Other Side of the Moon
by ruby mist
Summary: A project. An error. A mission. Who will save her? (of course, let's add in the fact that Kaoru needs to transfer as a new student at Kenshin's school while pretending to be a boy) *new chapter* yey!
1. The Village Without Bells

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. This fic is entirely fictional and Japan did not have a Project Messiah nor a Mission Messiah as far as I know. I did not write the haiku below. Harold G. Henderson did the translation. The makers of Weiss Kreuz own the song 'Other Side of the Moon'. I'm just borrowing it as the fic's title. 

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Other Side of the Moon

The Village Without Bells

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A Prologue

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Mayoi-go-no 

Naku naku tsukamu

Hotaru kana

---Ryusui (1691-1758)

__

The lost child cries,

And as he cries, he clutches

At the fireflies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

****

January 20, 1997

Good morning! Welcome back to the Morning Show. It is now time for our 'History Minutes.' Let us see what important events have happened on 20th of January years ago.

January 20, 1994 -- The explosion of Building 3 of a local research laboratory. 

A government laboratory was caught on fire at 3:00 am in the morning. It has been reported that an explosion in one of the chemical storage room inside the facilities caused the fire. According to the police, the accident was caused by a negative chemical reaction between a number of chemicals stored. Luckily, fatalities were confirmed to be zero, and injuries were reported to be less than 20 people. 

January 20, 1987 – Famous actress….

*Shuts down TV*

So, it has been three years since the incident. The public still knows nothing about it. That's good, the fewer people involved, the better it is for all of us. Three whole years, I wonder if they're still working on the codes. 

****

*Begin Flashback* -- Year 1986

"Yumiko! Kaoru! Where are you? Yumiko!!!"

"What is the matter Shiro? Is something wrong?"

"I got it! I got it!" Shiro said with extreme happiness while shaking his wife uncontrollably.

"What Shiro? Stop shaking me, I'm carrying Kao-chan here."

"I'm sorry Yumi, but I can't help myself! I got the job! I got it! I was promoted as the head scientist of the research lab!"

"Ah, really, koishii? That is great! I am so proud of you!"

"Yes, it is, isn't it? And guess what, they've asked me to form a team of experts to work on the new military defense project."

"We are so proud of you."

****

*End of flashback*

_'Yes, I was very happy then. My own project, and not just any project, but Project Messiah. Project Messiah was supposed to be a shield strong enough to resist neither any form of object nor any kind of energy. There was no threat of war against Japan, but the military insisted to continue to develop the best line of defense for future use. I was very honored to be head of the project, a project to protect the people. My team, especially me, worked on the project for years. My daughter even grew up in the laboratory already. She insisted on tagging along to watch her otou-chan work. Of course, she won't just stay inside my lab, nor even in my building. She'll go wandering over the nearby buildings as well. That was all right. All the other buildings in the compound were either another research facility or the police station. Before long, everybody knew the little raven-haired girl that pops out of nowhere and giggles like there's no tomorrow. I was very happy then. My family was happy. _

Five years passed, the project was almost finished. It was time to set the trigger for the shield, the password, the code. This project took years of my life, and it wouldn't have been possible if not for my family, especially my little Kaoru. Her smile that brightens my day and gives an unlimited amount of hope whenever I feel that this project was impossible to complete. And so, I taught Kaoru the key. Later, I will find out that, it will be the greatest mistake I'll ever do in my life.

Like any other studies, the project must be proven valid through several repetitions. The repetition took less time than the first attempt; and so on the seventh year of the project, I have repeated the study thrice and the fourth repetition was supposed to be the last one, the most anticipated project was nearly finished. However, that was when I noticed my error. My single numerical error that affected everything that followed afterwards.

As expected, the results changed. What we've been working for seven years did not turn out to be a shield at all. It was a formula to create a weapon of destruction, so strong it could wipe out not only every single matter on earth, but the nearest planet as well. I reported the unexpected change to the military officials that same day. The committee decided to close the project immediately. We could not afford any one, not even ourselves, to get hold of such power. Such power will only create greed and hunger for world domination. We cannot allow that; not in the time of peace. 

I felt devastated that day. My seven years of work has been a mistake. Yes, I made a revolutionary result, but not the one that protect and save lives, but the one that could result to genocide. The committee deleted all the files in the main frame that very same day. It took almost a whole day to clean up the computer files. It was decided to burn all the papers the next day, January 20, 1994.

The police never informed the public of the real reason for the fire. It was not a simple accident. Somebody actually burned down the building, to conceal evidence. Cameras monitored the entire research lab. According to the video shots, a group of unidentified people searched the lab and took everything inside the filing cabinets. Everything includes Project Messiah. Until now everything is still a mystery. Who did it? What was the motive? The answer is still unknown. No other similar incident followed the fire in the lab.

It has been three years since the incident. It seems like the thieves or whoever they are, haven't figured out the codes of the Messiah or it is possible that they have given up. Nevertheless, the government did not feel it appropriate to be wishfully thinking. Saito-san, one of the few people who knew about the project was assigned with my family's safety ever since. 

Three magical years, it has been a miracle for all of us. Kaoru is twelve now, constantly followed by Saito-san. I owe him a lot. Maybe I should relax a bit. It is possible that the Project Messiah has been forgotten. Yet, one thing still strikes me and gives chill to my spine, what if they break the code for the key? What if they find out what the trigger is?'

"Otou-chan! Otou-chan! Earth to Otou-chan!"

"No need to turn me deaf Kao-chan," Kaoru's father said, after finally snapping out from his thoughts. 

"Well, I've been trying to talk to you for a while now," the little girl said impatiently.

"Ano, I apologize hime-chan. Your otou-chan was just thinking. Is there something you want?"

"Ah well, I asked oka-chan already, but she asked me to ask you too before I go."

"Go where?"

"Aunt Tokio made me promise to go to their house today to have cheesecake with her. Please otou-san I promise to be back before dinner."

"Oh alright, but promise to be a good girl. I do not want you to cause any trouble with Tokio-san."

"I promise Otou-chan and I promise to be careful too!"

"All right. Be back before the sun sets. I love you Kao-chan," Shiro said while giving Kaoru a small hug.

"I love you too otou-chan and oka-chan too. Be back later. See ya!" 

"So how are Shiro-san and Yumiko-chan doing?" Tokio asked.

"They are doing very fine Auntie. Oka-chan is preparing sushi tonight would you and Saito-san like to have dinner at the house?" Kaoru asked. 

"No need Kaoru-chan. I am sure my husband would like to spend the rest of his evening at home. Thank you for inviting, maybe this weekend ok?"

"That would be great! I'll tell oka-chan right away!"

"I'm home."

"Welcome home Saito-san!" Kaoru greeted politely.

"Great timing koishii. Please walk Kaoru home. I would feel extremely worried if we let her walk home all by herself." Tokio asked, well actually more of commanded.

Saito gave out a sigh and gave a small nod, "Let's go kiddy."

Kaoru stood up then thanked Tokio, "The cheesecake was great. Thank you very much for inviting me. See you soon!" 

Tokio acknowledged with a small smile while Kaoru gave her an enthusiastic wave.

The sky was darker than it usually was for that time. Saito felt better to know he walked the little girl home himself. Over the years, he has developed a soft spot for the kid. Though, he will never admit that to anyone. 

"Here we are!" Kaoru spoke cheerfully when they reached the front door. "Thanks for the walk Saito-san," Kaoru said as she rang the doorbell.

"It's nothing. I'll go now. Give my regards to your parents," Saito motioned to walk towards the gate but froze when he heard Kaoru speak.

"That's strange. No one's answering and the door's unlocked," a clueless Kaoru thought aloud.

Saito walked past Kaoru, and stepped inside the house. He was defensively holding Kaoru close to him. 

"Oka-chan? Otou-san? Where are you?" Kaoru inquired softly.

"Be quiet Kaoru," Saito spoke sternly.

Kaoru's questions were answered by deafening silence. The two walked quietly towards the kitchen and that was where they both froze. Kaoru broke into tears and rushed towards her mother's side.

"Oka-chan! Oka-chan! What happened? Why are you and Otou-chan covered with blood? Who did this to you? Oka-chan! Oka-chan!"

Silence. Again, Kaoru's questions were rewarded with nothing but silence, neither a heartbeat nor a breath.

"Shiro!" Saito shook the guy, though hope was slowly fading away.

Saito looked at Kaoru who was now weeping her hearts out with the sight that shocked not only her, but him as well. Then, when hope was almost unknown, Saito heard a faint whisper.

"Take Kaoru," Shiro spoke softly yet as clear as crystal.

"Otou-chan!" Kaoru ran and wept on his father's chest and allowed her tears to mix with his blood.

Shiro tried to gather his last ounce of strength. Broken syllables came from his bleeding mouth that clearly formed the words, "The project. They know the password. Never let them find the key." 

And that was his last words. Kaoru was still crying. Saito frozen. Anger and worry started to fill his mind. The next second he grabbed a hesitating Kaoru, carried her away and ran back to his house as fast as his feet can carry them.

"No, I don't want to leave them alone! They're hurt! They're dying, how could we just leave them?" Kaoru said while unable to move from Saito's arms.

Saito remained silent until they reached Tokio.

****

January 20, 2002

_'Five years since my parents' death and five long years of running and pretending. Saito-san ordered me never to use the name Kamiya Kaoru ever again. Kamiya Kaoru was missing ever since an escaped convict murdered her parents. Well, that was what the police reports indicate. _

That awful day, after we reached Aunt Tokio, Saito-san brought us to a remote cottage in the outskirts of the city. We stayed there until he has cleaned up all the mess. He filed the reports about me and my parents, formed a secret group to work with the new mission, and started to create my new identity. The mission was called Mission Messiah, which obviously came from the project my father did. Only a handful of people knows about the mission, specifically the same people who knew about the project that shared the same name. 

Mission Messiah wasn't intended to last for years. It was expected that after I start a new life, the danger would soon be over. However, they were proven wrong. Shortly after being Hanayama Maemi. There were reports that the people after me which have been labeled as the Shadows, have already found out that I was staying at Tokyo Middle School. Though my identity was still concealed, Saito-san did not risk any time, I was transferred to another location and in no time started to live as Shima Yuriko, then Ichiyusai Rika, then Kajiyama Aya, Miyazaki Hiroko, and the latest was Ogata Ume, but not for long. An envelop arrived today, stamped confidential and delivered by an officer.' 

"This could only mean one thing," Kaoru said to herself. "Identity # 7."

A/n: Unfortunately, I do not know the names of Kaoru's parents, so I just picked out some names. If anyone is bothered about the names I used and/or if you happen to know Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya's real first names, then I'd be happy to change their names for you.


	2. Marvels

Sometimes having a great purpose is not enough. Some things just don't turn out the way we want them to be. Instead, trying to protect them may actually lead to endangering their lives.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. This fic is entirely fictional and Japan did not have a Project Messiah nor a Mission Messiah as far as I know. I did not write the haiku below. The makers of Weiss Kreuz own the song 'Other Side of the Moon'. I'm just borrowing it as the fic's title. 

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Other Side of the Moon

Marvels

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Chapter 1

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"Look, O look, there go

Fireflies," I would like to say ---

But I am alone.

--Taigi

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Kaoru raided the refrigerator and the cupboard looking for something to eat. She finally found something she likes, a bag of potato chips and a can of orange juice. She opened the bag and pulled the tab then slouched on her new apartment's futon.

She grabbed the folder then started browsing the contents, "Let me see." 

Name:Hirameshi Ryo

Birthdate:December 12, 1984

Age:17

Sex:M

Tel. No:572-8798

Address:42 Sapphire Lane

Father:Hirameshi Toshiro

Occupation:Businessman

Mother:Hirameshi Mieko

Siblings:none

School:Erizawa High

Year:IV

Performance:Straight A student

Extra-curricular Activity:Archery Team

LikesColor:Maroon

Dish:Pizza

MusicAlternative

Movie:Star Wars

Books:Suspense thrillers

Subject:Humanities

Sports:Archery

Attitude: Polite and quiet

Special notes:Mother passed away when he was seven. 

As usual, I will act as your father when needed. Your teacher in archery will arrive tomorrow. Inform me if you need assistance academically. You will start school in three days. Take extra care and good luck. By the way, do something about your hair.--Saito

_'And I thought my last identity was the worst! Are they running out of ideas to the point that I have to pretend to be a guy?! This will be so hard for me. And my hair? I tried so hard to grow this just to fit my previous identity.'_

This has been Kaoru's seventh identity for five years. Every time a report or even a little rumor was heard that the enemies are getting about her true identity, she is forced to move to another location and adapt a new identity. Her last one was a bubbly cheerleader who is obsessed with the color purple. 

A number of papers were filed underneath the paper she was reading. She scanned through it and found out it was additional materials to support her data, like specific books she should read, what business her family has, and so on.

_'I guess those intelligence people really has a lot of time in their hands. Imagine they even had time to think what my new talent will be, my favorite color, food, books I have read "supposedly" etc. etc. Jeez. As if it would make a ton of a difference, it's not like I've undergone plastic surgery. I still have the same face! I'm not like superman, who removes his glasses, puts gel on his hair then, Tada! Nobody notices that Clark Kent is superman minus the eyeglasses. Golly.' _

Each identity Kaoru has adapted was very different from the last one to make it harder for the people after her. She had to portray whomever she's supposed to be flawlessly, which means attending years of drama class, and training for whatever talent she's supposed to possess, forcing herself to like food she actually hates and so on. If her identity's data says that she is an opera singer then she will be in a week whether she likes it or not. However, lately, extreme differences in personalities weren't enough to keep the bad guys away from her. They are getting good at this game, and the police are starting to get worried.

__

'Last month, cheer dancing, and now archery? It doesn't matter. I think I like the sound of archery better than dancing. Sounds pretty cool. *Sigh* I am getting tired of this game,' Kaoru decided to brush off the feeling, knowing she couldn't do anything about it. "Ok, let's go memory," she finished her snack then decided to start memorizing her new identity by heart. 

Her training began the next two days, just like the letter has said. It was intense training, from dawn until dusk. It would have been almost impossible for anyone to learn and excel in archery in just two days of training. Almost, but not quite. During the five years of constant changes in talent, Kaoru has perfectly developed the basic skills needed for any sport or talent: focus, the right motivation, perseverance, and confidence. She also has the strength needed because she has mastered kenjutsu a year ago. Sure, she still wasn't the best archer in town, but she will pass as a member of an archery team now.

It was the third day. Tae, the officer assigned with Kaoru's disguise, a.k.a. Kaoru's wardrobe consultant and hairstylist, visited her that day. 

"Here comes the hard part. How to look and act like a guy. Any idea on where to start?" 

"Ok, why don't you try the school uniform first. I believe this is the right size for you so I brought five sets of these. And try wearing these underneath."

Kaoru looked at a set of black uniform, a white undershirt, and a 3" thick roll of thin, strong cloth with two pins to secure it. "I guess I know what these are supposed to be. I guess it would take me a while to finish dressing up."

"I can wait, don't worry," Tae said then smiled.

After twenty minutes, Kaoru finally came out of the dressing room. "So, how do I look?"

"From neck 'til the floor, you look absolutely like a man. Great job with the bandage."

"Gee, thanks, I don't know if that's a compliment or an insult. I know I don't have the greatest chest in the world, but you don't have to say it to my face," Kaoru said sarcastically.

"Ey, I'm not implying anything, alright? Anyway, Let's do something about your hair."

"Wait a second, can't I just wear a cap?"

"Caps aren't allowed inside the classroom. Any other suggestions before I give mine?"

"Can't think of anything right now, but please, please, I beg you Tae-san, not some super short cut ok?"

Tae gave a soft laugh the said, "Of course not Kaoru-chan. I love your hair, and I would really get upset if all your hair would become some person's wig. Why don't you take a look at these, " Tae handed a couple of pictures to Kaoru then continued, "I've never used this before, because all of your previous identities were female so, I could easily fix your hair, but this time, I really had a hard time so I used the computer."

Kaoru looked at the pictures Tae gave. One was her present image, and the other was she again but this time with a different haircut. 

"I believe that the inward curl of your bangs make you look a lot feminine, that's why I recommend a sharper cut for your bangs to make it a bit masculine. Then, the remainder of your hair will be tied in a low ponytail. I think having long hair is pretty popular with teenage guys nowadays, I think it makes them look cuter, more of a bishounen, and that is what attract schoolgirls most. What do you think Kaoru?" Tae inquired. 

"Its all right I guess. I look kind of good with that hair cut. I mean, it makes me look a lot boyish, and most important of all, I don't have to cut my hair, well, sort of, except for my bangs. You know what I mean," she paused for a while then continued, "Now about my voice. I've practicing for days now, tell me how this sounds." Kaoru cleared her throat and started speaking in a low serious voice. "Good morning, my name is Hirameshi Ryo. How do you do?" 

Tae couldn't stop laughing. "Oh Kaoru-chan, poor you. I'm sorry I just can't stop laughing." 

"Tae-san! You are not helping me at all!" Kaoru shrieked. "I am so, trying my best here, its not like I've ever tried to be a guy before. I haven't got the slightest clue. Fine, it was a plus when the data sheet indicated that Ryo, meaning me, is supposed to be quiet. Meaning, I don't have to use that weird voice often, but that doesn't mean never. So, I have to learn how," Kaoru finished with much frustration.

After a minute or so of laughing, Tae managed to gain composure and answered, "I know. I know. I apologize for being insensitive. Don't worry. With practice, It'll be nothing. You didn't attend those drama workshops for nothing right? You can pull this through. Besides, if I were you I'd worry about something else, and not just some minor thing like your voice."

"And what may that be?" Kaoru asked mockingly.

"Have you ever thought of which comfort room to use when you feel the need to find comfort? Well, you know what I mean. Reminder: schools do not have unisex bathrooms, either you go to the men's room or the ladies' room."

Kaoru turned pale. She hasn't thought of that. How could she have missed that problem? Oh no. What to do? What to do? She doesn't even know how the men's room looks like. She can't just use the ladies room, she is supposed to be a guy.

And as if that problem isn't enough Tae added, "Plus you have to keep in mind that high schools have PE not to mention you have training as one of the school's archer. Meaning, you have to change and take showers, right? Are these things registering in your mind? Showers, lockers, you're "supposed" to be a guy, MEN'S LOCKER ROOM?"

Kaoru remained silent_. 'I hate being Ryo. Who the heck came up with this BRILLIANT idea? What the heck am I supposed to do? I hate this. I hate this. I hate this. I hate this. I hate…'_

Kaoru's thoughts were interrupted when Tae nudged her a bit. "Kaoru, are you all right? I didn't mean to scare you, I was just laying out the facts. It's part of my job you know. I am surprised you haven't thought about it," Tae spoke with concern.

"What now? Have you thought of any solution?" Kaoru asked hopefully.

Tae gave a small smile, "Officer Megumi has been arranged to be your school nurse. You may use the comfort room inside the clinic whenever you please."

"Wait a second. Won't the other students find that weird? I mean, I use a special comfort room and not just the regular school ones?" 

"Well, then it's all up to you. Use the room when there aren't a lot of people around. Just be as discreet as you can be, and pretend that everything is perfectly ordinary."

"How about the PE and archery?"

"You have been exempted from your regular PE class since you are one of the school's varsity members. The school administration thinks the training is enough work out for you people. Training is held from Monday until Thursday. About archery, you can always go home right after practice. Pretend as if you've been doing that for ages. Taking a shower in school isn't necessary because you don't have any class afterwards. Besides, you're supposed to be quiet and collected, right? Its all part of being a mystery, avoid people as much as possible." 

__

'Great!' Kaoru managed to let a small smile crawl upon her lips, "Thanks Tae, for arranging all of these for me. I can't believe I forgot about those things." 

"No problem, I know you just sort of panicked. Saito-sama only gave you three days to prepare. No one could have done it but you. Besides I think training drained you out. You will need a lot of energy tomorrow. Better make sure to keep your brain working, you're supposed to be a wiz," Tae teased. "Oh by the way, I guess the earrings won't work this time? So here's a watch, you know how to operate this already." 

The earrings and the watch both have a microchip that serves as a tracking devise and can send a distress signal as well.

"Thanks, for all your help Tae." 

"You're very welcome Kaoru-chan. I better leave now so you can rest. Good luck tomorrow. Take care and don't forget to wear your watch."

"I won't. Bye, see you later."

A/n: Hey! Oh yes, I'm guilty for not finishing up my other fics before stating a new one. I'm sorry, but I totally don't know where to go after the chapters I've posted for the other fics. Those were created from the top of my head, but this fic's different. I've been working on this since February. I swear, I'll update this fic AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK. Oki? Hope you don't find Kaoru pretending to be a guy too weird. Don't forget to leave a review! I feel overwhelmingly happy whenever I receive some! Thanks!


	3. The Autumn of Life

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. This fic is entirely fictional and Japan did not have a Project Messiah nor a Mission Messiah as far as I know. I did not write the haiku below. Harold G. Henderson did the translation. 

****

Other Side of the Moon

The Autumn of Life

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Chapter 2

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    Kumo ori-ori

Hito-ni yasumuru
    
    Tsuki-mi kana

---Matsuo Basho

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Clouds come from time to time---

And bring to men a chance to rest 

from looking at the moon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey Kenshin! You're later than usual today. Normally, you're one of the first people to arrive in school!" Misao greeted as Kenshin walked into the classroom. Misao and Sanosuke were in the middle of their silly squabbles again when Kenshin arrived.

"Good morning Misao, you too Sano. So what's this about now?"

"I am trying to get weasel here to let me know problem number 5's answer. I can't seem to figure out how to solve it." Sano said miserably.

"Well, you just have to try harder. Math is such a wonderful subject once you learn how to like it," Misao said confidently.

"I didn't know you love math, Misao," Kenshin commented.

"Well she didn't, really. But ever since the new math teacher came..her whole perspective changed. Obviously, she's trying to impress Shinomori-sensei by being a math genius." 

"I am not!" An extremely blushing Misao said.

Kenshin gave a chuckle, which made Misao even redder. The little tease was abruptly ended when Shinomori-sensei entered the room.

"Good morning."

"Good morning Shinomori-sensei."

"Please handout your assignments and turn your books to page 32."

Shinomori-sensei was about to start his lecture when the class was interrupted by a knock. Shinomori-sensei walked towards the door, which revealed the old principal who, was with another student. Apparently the student was staring intently at the floor so his face was covered by his bangs. The class broke into quiet whispers as the two men conversed.

"Who's with the principal? Do you think it's a new student?" Misao whispered to Sano and Kenshin. 

"I don't know. I can't even see his face," Sano replied.

Kenshin gave a small shrug.

"Please excuse me for a while," the math teacher said to his class as he stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him.

"Shinomori-san, this is Hirameshi Ryo," the principal gestured the student beside him who slowly raised his chin when his name was mentioned. 

__

'What the? I can't help my eyes from popping out.'

"He will be joining this class from now on. This is his first day, please make sure he gets comfortable here. Good day to both of you." With that the principal walked away and took the nearest staircase. Shinomori too turned his back from Ryo and was already holding the doorknob when a hand stopped him at his wrist.

"Officer Aoshi, what are you doing here?"

"I teach here."

__

'Duh' "I know that. Well, you know what I mean."

"We will discuss about this later, I do not want the class to wait any longer."

Aoshi motioned to turn the knob again when he paused and whispered something to Ryo.

"Be careful with your voice Kaoru, someone might hear you."

Kaoru froze for a moment then nodded. She didn't realize that she used her natural voice, Kaoru's voice, a few moments ago. She was so surprised to see Aoshi there that she completely forgot to control her voice. 

The class, which took their teacher's absence to chat with their seatmates, hushed when the teacher came in again, followed by an unknown student who still denied the class to view his face.

"A new student will now join your class starting today. Why don't you introduce yourself?"

"Hai." The new student slowly raised his head and brushed of the hair that fell upon his eyes, inhaled deeply and started, "Good morning. My name is Hirameshi Ryo. I am very glad to meet all of you." Ryo bowed and finished his introduction with a shy yet very sweet smile.

The class broke into murmurs and giggles that mostly came from the girls. It seems like Ryo's smile was quite popular with the girls. 

"Why don't we find you a seat." Shinomori-sensei scanned the room and found an empty chair at the back part.

"Why don't you take the seat behind Himura-san? He's the one sitting beside the window."

A red haired student smiled at Ryo.

__

'I guess that's Himura-san all right.' Ryo began to walk towards his seat. Put down his bag and started to get ready for math.

"Hi there! My name's Misao, and this here is Sano and the one sitting in front of you is Kenshin," the girl sitting diagonally from Ryo's seat cheerfully introduced.

"Oh hello, pleased to meet you."

Their small introduction was ended when Shinomori-sensei started calling out people to solve the problems on the board. 

Soon the lunch bell rung. A cheerful Misao skipped gleefully towards Ryo who was kind of stuck in the middle of people asking to join them for lunch, mainly girls.

"Would you like to join our table for lunch?" Misao interjected.

Ryo looked at Misao and towards her friends waiting by the door, it was the two guys she introduced to him earlier.

__

'I bet she's the best option I've got. Besides, I'll do anything to escape this mob of girls.'

"Please excuse me, I have to go. I'll see you guys later," Ryo grabbed Misao's wrist then quickly ran for the door. 

"Whoa buddy, you all right?" Sano said at the dashing duo.

"Yes, but I won't be if I stay here a minute more. Can we please go now?"

"Sure buddy, the cafeteria's this way." With that, the four of them walked towards the dining area with Ryo walking more briskly than the other three.

During the course of the lunch, Ryo's new friends kept asking questions about him, which was absolutely normal. Ryo thanked mentally for all the research that has been provided for him. It soon came pretty handy with all the questions these people are throwing at him. The Q & A portion only stopped when Misao asked about the clubs.

"I remember Ryo, did you have the chance to sign up for a club? If I'm right, last week was the last time to sign up. But in case you didn't don't worry about it, you can always join the kendo or the tae kwon do club."

"Ah, yes fortunately I signed up in time. Umm… why did you say that I could always join either kendo or tae kwon do?"

"Because Kenshin and Sano here are the presidents of those clubs or teams or whatever. So they can always squeeze you in or me for that matter. Am I not correct neh Kenshin, neh Sano?" Misao gave the two her cutest puppy dog eyes. 

__

*Kenshin giant sweatdrop*

"Don't you have a club Misao?" a puzzled Ryo asked. 

"Yes I did, but I'm not yet officially in. New members always have to pass the try outs first."

"What was your club before?"

"Tae kwon do."

"Why'd you decide to switch?"

"Because Shinomori-sensei is the new head of the Archery team," Sano butted in with a huge smile plastered on his face.

"I've always been interested to join anyway!!!" Misao said defensively then immediately changed the subject, "What's your club by the way Ryo?" 

__

'This is definitely bad. Something's definitely wrong. First I thought Megumi-san's stay here was just for the comfort room thingie, but then here comes Aoshi-san being an undercover teacher, which by the way out of all the math teachers in school turned out to be mine. And now, this. Archery. I didn't know that he'd be my club's moderator too. Seems like members of Mission Messiah are actually trying their best to keep an eye on me 24/7. No matter where I go, someone's there. This is the first time security has tightened up this much. Something's up. I need to talk to them fast.' 

Ryo snapped out and replied, "Archery. I guess I also have to attend the try outs later."

"Really? That's great! We could go together! You guys will come and watch us right? I mean, come on for moral support! Besides, training doesn't start until next week. There's no kendo nor tae kwon do meetings this week!" 

"Sure Misao, Sano and I wouldn't miss it for the world."

***

Misao looked at the bleachers at the sides. She waved at the two guys once she found them, which waved back as gleefully.

"Goodluck Misao! Goodluck Ryo!" Kenshin and Sano cheered.

Misao crossed her fingers and smiled.

The tryouts have started. Shinomori-sensei has started calling people one by one. He was doing it alphabetically. It was now on letter F, soon it will be Ryo's turn.

"Hirameshi Ryo, you're up!"

Ryo walked towards the marked area and was holding the bow and arrow already. He gave one last look at his new friends who were making silent cheers for him. He took his stance, began focusing and released the arrow. The arrow hit the target range. It wasn't a bull's eye but it hit inside the most inner circle of the board. The watchers burst into applause because of the magnificent shot. Ryo merely smiled modestly and proceeded to his next shot. After three trials, Ryo's rank was definitely number one. All three shots were almost bull's eyes. People continued to cheer and clap for him, though he remained to smile modestly.

"That was amazing Ryo!" Misao said excitedly.

"Ah, I guess I just got lucky. I'm really not that good."

"You're just like Kenshin 'ol buddy here. You two can be best friends. Always pretending to be ordinary when you're not," Sano said as he tapped Ryo's back, which turned out to be a little strong for him.

Kenshin smiled sheepishly and praised, "You were really good Ryo, and I'm sure that's no fluke."

"Hehe…thank you. Don't be so happy for me yet I don't even know if I made it to the team or not. Besides we have to watch Misao now," Ryo said humbly while scratching the back of his head.

"Right! I almost forgot that I have to try too!"

"Makimachi Misao, you're next!"

"Here goes nothing!"

"Goodluck Misao!!!"

Misao stood at the mark where Ryo stood earlier. Stretched the bow's chord then released the arrow, it landed exactly on the inner circle's line. The next two shots were fairly close to the first arrow, one between the innermost and the 2nd innermost circle, and the other inside the innermost circle. She did well too.

"Great job Misao!"

"Ey, you really think so? I hope I can make it to the team!"

"Attention everyone. As I can see in my list, there are 12 of you who signed up for the team. However, I cannot accommodate all of you since the team has only room for four more. These four have been chosen based on their performance today. The four who displayed the greatest potential shall be the ones who'll be admitted. To the remaining who will not be so lucky in this field, please feel free to ask my assistance in helping you join another club who still have openings. Ok, l'm not going to let you wait any longer. The four new members in no particular order are Kagayama Keiko, Hirameshi Ryo, Gayhasu Jin and Makimachi Misao. Thank you very much for your time. See you next week."

"Congratulations you two lucky bastards!" Sano yelled.

"I can't believe I'm actually a member now!! This is so surreal!"

"Hai. I am very happy for both of you," Kenshin smiled then looked at Ryo who was staring at Shinomori-sensei's retreating figure. "Ah, Ryo-san are you all right?"

"Hai Kenshin. Thanks."

"Look at the time, it's getting pretty late. I better head home. I promised the little twerp that I'll be home early today."

"Ah, we better go now, I agree. Say hi to Yahiko for me Sano."

"Sure Kenshin, he'll like that."

"I'll walk with you Sano!" Misao declared.

"Sano and Misao's houses are in the same street," Kenshin explained to Ryo. "How about you Ryo, aren't you going home yet?"

"Yes I will, but why don't you guys go ahead. I have to check something really quick at the library."

__

'Who goes to the library on his first day?' The three just looked at each other and shrugged the issue away. 

"Ok, see you later Ryo," Sano waved casually.

"Take care," Misao bid.

"Have a great evening. Bye," Kenshin smiled.

"Thanks. I will. See you guys tomorrow," Ryo said then motioned to walk towards the library's direction. 

Once the three were out of sight. Ryo stopped then changed his direction.

__

'Now to get some answers.' "Time to talk Aoshi."


	4. Autumn-nightfall

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. This fic is entirely fictional and Japan did not have a Project Messiah nor a Mission Messiah as far as I know. The makers of Weiss Kreuz own the song 'Other Side of the Moon'. I'm just borrowing it as the fic's title. 

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To the Readers…

Thank you so much for reading this fic, special thanks goes to the people who left a review namely, **MaraJadeblu, sulky girl, Koneko-dono, dementedchris, Gypsy-chan,** and **Fangboy. **

MaraJadeblu: About the dialogue, sorry about that I noticed it too when I was proofreading, but it's so hard to think of variations. Err..so please bear with me ok? Plus, notice I used 'Mou' in this chapter like you suggested. ^_^

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Dementedchris: This fic won't be a heavy science, action fic. Maybe a few chapters will be, but I guarantee that there'll be chapters to lighten things up. And yes, this is going to be a KnK fic. Of course, shounen-ai implications will be a danger, but I'm currently working on how to avoid that, I just hope it works!! LOL. 

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Gypsy-chan: I'm so glad that you didn't get confused whenever Kaoru switches between her girl self, and the boy half. I was feeling worried that people will get confused. Whew..

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Fangboy: This chapter will clear things up as to why Kaoru has to dress up as a boy. Hope it answers your question!

Ok here's Chapter 3! 

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Other Side of the Moon

Autumn-nightfall

__

Chapter 3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

__

Why does it take eternity to heal the wounds that only took moments to make?

--N.O.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aoshi was in the faculty room clearing his desk. He was about to leave his desk, when he noticed a swoosh of black hair leaving the first column and transferring to the next column. _'How could she be so careless? Sneaking into the faculty at this hour. If there weren't a faculty meeting, this room would have been crowded.'_

'Mou, I didn't think it would be this hard. I can't find him. It's a great thing there are only a couple of teachers around. Ok, let's see, where could the math department be? Think…thi..'

Kaoru's thoughts were interrupted when a pair of hands covered her mouth and gripped her wrists. 

"Be quiet."

Aoshi quietly sneaked towards the door and cracked the door open slightly. He checked if anyone was still loitering on the corridors. Naturally, given the time, the halls were empty. He gave out an audible sigh and completely stepped out of the faculty room. Kaoru chose to spoke first. 

"I know you're disappointed, if not mad. I am so sorry, but I can't just go home and ignore all this. I need to have the answers to my questions now."

"That is not enough to justify your actions. You should have given thought about it further before trying to sneak into the teacher's room. If someone saw you, then.."

"Nobody saw me. Well, eerrr…except you. But you're different! You're not just a teacher. Come on, sorry, really. It was stupid, I know, but curiosity's biting me."

"Let's not talk here. We'll talk in your apartment."

"Wait a second. Isn't that more ridiculous? What if somebody saw us? You're my teacher, Shinomori-sensei," Kaoru said with an emphasis on the sensei.

"Nobody will see us. Now let's go."

__

'No use arguing, its not like Aoshi's some bonehead who gets convinced easily nor changes his mind ones he sets it.' *sigh*

~~~~ At 42 Sapphire Lane ~~~~~~

"Would you like something to drink?"

"Tea would be fine if you have some."

"Sure I do. Make yourself comfortable while I boil some water."

"Thanks."

Kaoru has changed her clothes and was now wearing girl's clothes. She has also decided to tie her hair up in a high ponytail once more.

"Why don't I start asking questions, Aoshi."

"I'll answer the best I can."

"All right, first of all, why are you teaching at my new school and why is Megumi there as well?"

"For your protection."

"Like duh, as if I didn't know that already. Come on. We've been playing this game for years, and the team has never been this tight before. Something's up and you know it."

"I don't have a clue on what you're leading this conversation to."

"Stop playing innocent! I deserve to know because my neck is the one in line here! You can't just make me believe that everything's going to be all right because it just isn"t!!"

Aoshi's eyes slightly became larger as he stared at her in silence. She's never raised her voice at him nor to any other person, as far as he knows. She must really be having a hard time or really afraid.

"I am sorry, I didn't mean to raise my voice like that. I..I am just, I don't know, confused maybe, or even tired. I'm afraid too. As much as I would like to stay strong and brave, its really hard when you know danger's just lurking around the corner," Kaoru explained with her eyes never leaving the sight of her shoes.

"There is no need for you to apologize. You deserve to know the truth as you've said. I just wasn't sure if it was the smartest thing to do right now. However, since I see how being ignorant is affecting you, then I'll tell you what you want to hear."

Kaoru gave a small nod urging Aoshi to continue without interrupting his words.

"It has been an enigma for years on how fast the so called Shadows have been able to track you down, which had become worse during the past couple of years. Of course, the idea of having a traitor amidst the force has always been there but no form of evidence could be acquired, until a week ago. 

A week ago, substantial amounts of evidences were accumulated that proved that the 'Shadows' have an inside informant. This led to the arrest of Maehara Jun, a senior police officer assigned to Tokyo Police two years ago. I will skip the details and go on to what I know greatly bothers you. It is suspected that Maehara is not the only person who has infiltrated our guards. There may be one or couple more pretending to be innocent just like what Maehara did for years. However, these people are highly trained, smart and certainly not allowed to be careless. They leave us neither proofs nor even clues to lead us to them. I am greatly sorry for not being able to identify these 'Shadows' until now, but if it will make you feel a bit better, I will tell you that the list is now down to three organizations. We are hoping that with the arrest of Maehara, the 'Shadows' will soon be revealed, although I doubt if he'll actually spit the whole thing out. Because of all this, the Mission has decided to strengthen your protection. Although only the Mission Messiah are the only ones allowed to know your identity data, leakage are bound to happen with all the 'Shadows' in the force. This is why I will be constantly watching you wherever in school and so with Officer Takani. Also, this is why we've decided to dress you up as a boy. This may probably slow them down together with the arrest of one of their people."

"I see," Kaoru murmured.

"I don't think this will help but I'll say it anyway. Don't worry. We are trying our best to solve this case as fast as we can, although years don't really count as fast."

"I know. I know all of you are giving all you can for this mission and I appreciated all of it. Thank you so much. Still, you can't blame me for getting all tensed up."

"I will protect you Kaoru, the whole team will. I will never let them touch you as long as I live. I've pledged my life to this mission."

"You don't have to say that Aoshi. You should have a life outside your job, you know?" Kaoru suggested trying to lighten the atmosphere a bit.

"I have all I need."

"Sure, sure. Whatever you say." _'Why do I even bother telling him that anyway? He never considers it anyway.'_

"I'd better get going now. It's getting late. You should start doing your schoolwork."

"Hai Shinomori-sensei!" Kaoru gave a salute and a toothy grin.

__

'She always tries to be cheerful around everybody. Sometimes I don't know if that's good or not.' 

"Good night then. See you in class," Aoshi said then walked towards the door.

"Good night," Kaoru replied as she closed the door and locked it.

__

'Now that I know what really happened, I'm not too sure if I really wanted to know all of these. I must control myself in order not to be freakishly paranoid around everyone. The whole team's around anyway, so there's no need to worry. No need to worry at all. Yup, I am safe. Safe, safe, safe. Ok, Kaoru or rather Ryo, let's start with Math.' 

"Let's see, the inverse of x^3 + 5 is… Darn it! Why do I feel so darn scared?"

A/n: Review please! Thanks!


	5. Moon Magic

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. This fic is entirely fictional and Japan did not have a Project Messiah nor a Mission Messiah as far as I know. The makers of Weiss Kreuz own the song 'Other Side of the Moon.' I'm just borrowing it as the fic's title.

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To the readers…

Hello again! Thanks for the awesome reviews!

A couple of people thought the previous chapter was way too short, and I totally agree with you. (Gomen dementedchris and Koneko-dono). So, to make it up to all of you, here's the next installment. This is my fastest update yet! 

To those people who are asking for K&K fluff, please understand that it won't be an easy task to do since things are a bit complicated (now that's an understatement ^_^;;). Besides, I want their feelings to develop gradually, so it won't be love at first sight at all, gomen. Also, I don't think Kaoru is the type who won't care if more people will be in danger because of being too close to her, don't you think? However, to satisfy your request a bit, there'll be teeny weenie bit of K&K in this chapter and a couple of drops more in the following chapter. 

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Dementedchris: It's good that you liked Aoshi as an overprotective and super nice person, though he may sound OOC. I have this tendency to make him this concerned nice guy, 'coz I think he really is (deep inside). 

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Selene: Thank you so much for those kind words! I felt so happy. Believe it or not I cried when I read your review! Why? Maybe I was just feeling highly emotional today, or just plain baka, or I guess I was just really touched. It's nice to know that my efforts weren't in vain. I'm really treating this fic seriously, like it was a term paper or something. I'm glad you liked the intro quotes! Last chapter's quote is my favorite. Hmm..about Kaoru confiding to a certain redhead, you'll just have to read and find out! Hihi, didn't mean to sound mean, but seriously that would probably take some time before it actually happens.

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Hells-Angel: Thanks for pointing it out, I'll try and fic it up when I have time. Sorry, finals are coming up so I don't really have much time in my hands.

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A little teaser…

Another member of Mission Messiah will be introduced in this chapter. Guess who?? Teehee ^_^

Too much babbling! Sorry 'bout that…time to read the chapter!

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Other Side of the Moon

Moon Magic

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Chapter 4

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Music is my refuge. I could crawl in the spaces between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.

---Unknown

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Good morning Kenshin!" a cheerful Misao greeted.

"Good morning Misao. You certainly look happy today."

"Who wouldn't? It's Friday! No school tomorrow!" Misao replied with a gigantic smile.

"Who can be so noisy this early?" a lightheaded Sano entered the classroom. He went straight to his desk and murmured, "Oh right, who else but the weasel," before he crossed his arms on the desk and placed his head above it.

"Good morning to you too rooster head! I'm not going to allow anyone to ruin my day, not even you baka," greeted Misao. 

Sano was about to refute Misao's comment when she spoke again. 

"Do you guys want to go out tomorrow or something? We can hang out at the mall and catch a movie."

"That sounds great Misao, I don't have anything planned anyway for this weekend. How about you Sano?" Kenshin agreed immediately.

"Sure, whatever."

"Great. We can invite Ryo too, can't we?" Misao asked as she spotted the raven-haired senior at the classroom's door.

"Sure why not," Kenshin agreed once again. Sano gave a nod.

Ryo was on his way to his desk when a girl blocked his way. "Hi there! I guess we never had the chance to formally introduce ourselves. My name's Mitsuki," the girl said while extending her right hand.

"Oh hello, my name's Ryo."

"I know," Mitsuki said with a smirk. "These are my friends, Sakura and Raiya," the girl continued while gesturing the girls behind her who gave Ryo their smiles. 

Ryo smiled back and gave a curt nod. 

The girl spoke once more, "I tried inviting you yesterday to join our table for lunch but it seems that you chose to join another table yesterday," she paused for a second and glanced towards Misao's direction. "And so, I'd like to raise my offer again. Would you like to join us for lunch?" the girl requested as she inched closer to Ryo, brushing a few of his bangs away from his eyes. 

"PDA IS NOT ALLOWED WITHIN SCHOOL PREMISES," Misao spoke loudly not saying it to anyone directly but the amount of decibels used to say it ensured the fact that the whole class heard it.

"Thanks for the offer Mitsuki-san but not today ok? Maybe some other time. We'd better go take our seats now, I bet Takahashi-sensei's coming any minute now," Ryo finished smiling, gave a small nod, then headed straight towards his desk. 

"Thanks Misao," Ryo whispered.

"Sure. No need to thank me. I never liked Mikagami anyway."

The door opened and revealed an old lady dressed in an old fashioned long sleeved blouse and a black skirt. Her almost all-gray hair was tied up in a tight bun.

"Good morning class. Let's start Physics."

After half an hour of lecture Takahashi-sensei announced that they'd be having an in-class activity which will be done by pairs. 

"I've already decided how to pair all of you. It will be by alphabetical order."

A considerable amount of protest surfaced from the class.

Sano addressed, "Can't we just choose our partners ourselves? It would make it easier for us to work together."

"No. I've already told you how it will work Mr. Sagara. Now listen up, I'll announce the pair number and its members. Remember your pair number. It will appear on every work you finish as a pair. This pairing will be used today and for the rest of the school year. This includes research projects, in-class activities and laboratory performances. Silence please. Pair #1 Akaneda and Aoya, Pair #2 Ayaka and…"

"Man! She is such a I-don't-like-to-say-it!" fumed Misao.

"I wonder who my partner will be? It'll be either Sokawa or Rukiwano," murmured Sano to himself.

"Why are you so mad Misao? I bet it couldn't be that bad," Ryo suggested,

"One of the possible partners for me will be Mitsuki! She goes after me in the roll sheet!"

"She can't be that bad," Ryo tried to calm Misao.

"Yes she is."

"Wait keep it down a bit, I think I'm up soon and I can't hear a thing she's saying," Kenshin inserted.

"Pair #8 Himura and Hirameshii, Pair #9…"

"You guys are lucky!" Sano said.

"I guess we are," Kenshin smiled at Ryo.

__

*Don't blush idiot! You've been acting for the longest time, don't give in now!* Kaoru mentally hammered her head. "Yup!" 

"AHHHH!!!" Misao whined.

"What's with you?" Sano asked confused.

"Didn't you hear?" Misao asked then imitated their teacher's voice, "Pair #12 Makimachi and Mikagami." 

"I'm sure Mitsuki's not excited neither," Kenshin said.

"No doubt about that," Sano said as he looked at Mitsuki's direction.

***

The day went by quickly, soon the last bell of the day rang. The doors of the classrooms blasted open and the halls soon were flooded by vast amounts of students. Sano, Kenshin, Misao and Ryo allowed the other students to leave the classroom first before they let themselves out. 

"Oh I almost forgot Ryo. We were planning on going out tomorrow. Would you like to join us?" Kenshin asked Ryo.

Sano swung his right arm over Ryo's right shoulder and gave it a big pat. "Yeah buddy. You can't turn us down! We'll have fun!"

"Where are you planning to go?" Ryo inquired passively pretending not to be excited though he really was. He has never gone out on a gimmick for ages.

"At the mall. Watch a movie maybe," answered Misao.

"I'll check all right? I'll give one of you a call tonight to give my answer."

"Aww..little Ryo needs too ask Daddy first?" Sano teased but made sure he mentioned the right living parent. He didn't want to offend his friend or anything like that.

"No I don't. I just have to make sure I have no commitments set for tomorrow."

"I see. Jeez, was I dense or what? If you have a date or something, you don't have to cancel on your date just to hang out with us. We'll understand," Sano said with a mischievous smirk on his face while giving Ryo a nudge.

Kaoru couldn't help but blush.

Kenshin gave a small 'oro' while watching Sano amuse himself.

Misao smiled and pushed the topic an inch further, "Yeah Ryo, have a date or a girlfriend?"

__

'This is insane.' Kaoru thought miserably. "No I don't. Stop it you guys. This is not funny."

"How touchy," Sano teased some more.

Ryo couldn't help it but glare at Sano while still having a hue of pink on his cheeks. 

As usual, the official icebreaker none other than Mister Kenshin Himura, prevented the little tease to develop into something serious. He grabbed a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Ryo.

"Here's my number. Call me anytime to tell your response, all right?" 

"WHOA, and what do we have in this corner??!?!? Keeping ready-made telephone notes inside his pocket!!! And I've always thought you can't be that smooth," Sano said in an exaggerated tone, much like the tone of a commentator, which caused Misao to barely breath due to an extensive amount of laughter.

"Oro! I just wrote one earlier because I was planning on giving it to Ryo! I figured being Science partners would need some form of communication, don't you think? I just didn't remember to hand him the paper till now!"

"Sure, sure Kenshin!" Misao managed to say between her giggles.

"Now it's all clear man," Sano paused for effect and motioned to touch his chin as if he has a beard and pretended to think deeply. "I've never seen you this way because we've always been around girls, I didn't know you preferred the other species. Congratulations Ryo! You've just won Kenshin's heart!"

And that was what made Misao lose her balance and slammed on the floor, which didn't really matter because she continued laughing. 

On the other hand, a couple of people didn't find this amusing at all. In fact their face was deep crimson in color that you'll think they ought to be rushed to the clinic as soon as possible.

"Stop it Sanosuke." Kenshin managed to warn, and then turned towards Ryo who was smiling sheepishly but still red as he is, "This is embarrassing. I'll understand if you don't want to go with us tomorrow anymore. I can't even figure out why I hang out with these ABNORMAL people," Kenshin said aloud making sure the two heard his remark regardless of all the noise the two were creating while laughing.

"Oh come on you two! Don't be such babies. We were just kidding, right Misao?"

"Yes that's right! Unless its really true," Misao can't help but add the latter statement which made her and Sano crack up again.

Kenshin just shook his head and muttered apologies to Ryo again.

"Don't worry about it. It's nothing. I'd better get going. I can't wait for them to stop laughing because that may take us ages. I'll give you a call Kenshin. Bye guys."

"Bye Ryo," Kenshin said with a wave.

"Bye!" Sano and Misao said simultaneously while controlling their giggles from creating an outburst one more time. 

***

It was almost nine o'clock. Kaoru fixed the house a bit, vacuumed and dusted when she arrived from school. She threw a pack of TV dinner in the microwave earlier in the evening, and ate then cleared the kitchen. She decided to take a quick shower before making her calls.

****

*Dials number* *someone answers the phone*

"Hello?"

"Oh hello, good evening Aunt Tokio. It's Ryo. May I talk to father please?" Ryo asked. Kaoru has been instructed never to use the name Kaoru on the phone because it can easily be tapped.

"Hi dear! How have you been? I've missed you so much."

"I'm great Auntie. School's doing fine. Umm... is this a good time to ask dad for something?" _'Yes, it is very uncomfortable to call Saito-san father or dad, but can't do anything about it.'_

"What is it about Ryo?" 

"A couple of my friends invited me to hang out tomorrow. I'm wondering if that will be all right."

"I see. Well, I don't know. You know the last decision will be coming from your father. Wait a minute, I'll go get him. Don't worry I'll condition him to have the right mood before talking to you."

"Thank you so much Aunt Tokio. This means a lot to me."

"I know it does. So wait for a while."

"Ok." 

__

Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock. 

Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock.

"Hello."

"Good evening Dad! How was work?"

"Same as usual. What do you want?"

"Well, you know I'm new in school and I've been making a couple of friends and..well."

"Just spit it out."

__

'Ah, of course straight-to-the-point kind of guy, how could I forget?' "Ah well, they invited me to go to mall with them tomorrow. I called to ask your permission."

"…"

"Hello? Dad? You still there? Did you here what I just said?"

"Yes I did."

"Umm… ok. Well, so what'll it be?"

"All right. What time are you leaving?"

"Err…I don't know. I haven't asked about the details because I wasn't sure you were going to allow me."

"I see. What do you expect me to do? Sit down and relax?"

"I promise to call you again tonight once I get the details."

"Call after an hour. I have to do something first."

"Ok. An hour it is. Bye."

****

*Hangs up*

__

'Ok..now to call Kenshin. Where did I put his number again?' Kaoru grabbed her backpack and opened the outermost zipper_. 'Ok. All set._' As she was about to dial the number she paused and hesitated for a while._ 'I'm actually nervous! Well, I'm calling a guy here, but its not really like that isn't it? I'm another guy, so it's like calling another girl instead.' *sigh* 'Eeeee.. this is not comfortable at all. It's not like I like him, isn't it? I've only met him for a week. Yes, get a grip Ryo!'_

****

*Dials number* 

"Hello?"

"Hello! Good evening, may I please speak with Kenshin?"

"Who is this," the man on the other line answered in a rather not so welcoming tone.

"It's his classmate Ryo."

"Hold on a second."

Kaoru heard the man who answered the phone call 'Hey baka deshi! The phone's for you!' 

"Hello?'

"Hi Kenshin! It's Ryo"

"Oh hi, wait a sec." Kenshin tried to cover the mouthpiece and yelled, "I got it shishou, you can put down the phone now."

****

*Click*

"Hey Ryo what's up? So you coming tomorrow?"

"Yeah sure. Where are we going again?"

"That's great! We're going to the Fashion Plaza. Misao insisted to go to that one."

"I see. So, do we just meet there or something?"

"If you want. Sano and Misao's going to go together. I can give you a ride if you want."

"I don't want to cause you any trouble."

"Nonsense. So I'll swing by your place at 2 then?"

"Sure. You don't even know where I live."

"That's right... hehe... I forgot that small detail. What's your address again?"

After giving her address Kaoru called her 'father' again and told the complete detail. After making all the necessary calls, she placed the wireless phone back to its base and decided to tuck herself to bed early.

~~~~~ On another phone conversation ~~~~~

"I want you to follow him the moment he steps out of the house."

"Yes sir."

"Are there any questions?"

"None sir."

"Good. Make sure he doesn't appear there, Soujiro."

"Hai Saito-sama."

A/n: To those who do not know, PDA stands for **P**ublic **D**isplay of **A**ffection. 
    
    Stereotypical Physics teacher isn't it? But it just fitted perfectly I think. Isn't it obvious that I didn't like Physics? It was the hardest subject ever and the teacher didn't help either. Ahhh..scary memories.

I am terribly running out of names to use. 

This is the longest chapter I've ever made so far! It certainly made up for the short chapter 3.

Sorry if some of the characters will be OOC.

I tend to refer to Kaoru when the situation tends to affect her as a girl, and Ryo, as a guy. Do you get it? Harhar…I am so sorry if it's confusing. Just remember Kaoru's Ryo and Ryo's Kaoru.

Want to take a guess on who is the 'he' referred by Saito in the phone call? Next chapter's going to be fun! +)


	6. Enjoyment

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. This fic is entirely fictional and Japan did not have a Project Messiah nor a Mission Messiah as far as I know.

To the readers… 

Thanks to all the people who reviewed! Your reviews were really inspiring and gave me confidence. If not, I would have believed long ago that this fic stinks because of the low amount of reviews it's receiving.

**Dementedchris**: I was actually debating on whether to use affection or intimacy; I think my former school actually chose the word intimacy. 

**Gypsy-chan**: Maybe you wouldn't have to wait for a long time after all. (Was this vague or what? I don't want to spoil it to the other readers.)

**Sync*in**: I didn't mean to make Ryo sound like Mikagami. Did he? And sorry for making Ryo talk too much (yup, I knew that). Harhar..I was hoping no one would notice that. Obviously, someone did, so I made a conscious effort to give him fewer lines. I hope it fits his description better.

**Selene**: I'm happy to know that you enjoyed Misao and Sano's teasing, I was afraid it kind of sounded "shounen-ai-sh."

**Inuki and all the other readers**: As much as I would love to update faster, I just can't do that right now. This is the fastest rate I could go until the finals are over. I'm hoping to get a 4.0 GPA this semester and I just can't screw up on the last minute. So the earliest I can post the next chapter will be next Wednesday. Sorry for the slow updates. I promise that it'll pick up once school is over. Thanks!

**Other Side of the Moon**

Enjoyment Chapter 6 

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

_Love is two solitudes reaching out to greet each other._

_---Rilke_

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

***Ding Dong***

_'Great he's here and I'm running late! How could I've forgotten to set my alarm clock?!!?'_

Kaoru was one of those people who just can't wake up early without the aid of an alarm clock. Forget to set it and it is guaranteed that she will not be opening her eyes as long as her bladder is willing to control. Being Ryo didn't help dressing up in high speed a tiny bit.

_'Mou…my body is reluctant to move an inch so much to get out of bed.' _

Meanwhile, Kenshin who has been waiting patiently for 5 minutes decided to ring the doorbell once more.

_'I'm sure it rang the first time, but better try again.'_

***ding dong***

_'Mou..I guess I should try and wake these muscles up.' Kaoru thought as she attempted to roll out of bed._

_'Hmm... Wonder what's taking him so long?' Kenshin's thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he heard a loud thump, which sounded much like a very heavy thing or rather someone falling, and the sound came from the back part of the house. Being a concerned worry-wart as he is, he decided to make sure that everything's alright so he rushed towards the back of the apartment._

"Itai, my side hurts. Mou, my shoulder feels weird too," Kaoru complained aloud.

Kenshin, who had just reached the back window, spoke and asked, "Is everything alright Ryo? I heard a loud crash. You ok…th..there?" Kenshin barely managed to finish his question as he heard the person speak as he looked through the window. 

"Ah, I'm alright. I'll be there in a sec!" Ryo shouted hoping Kenshin would hear it.

"Ok," Kenshin managed to release. 

Kenshin settled as he reached the front door again.

After another couple of minutes, Ryo finally made it to the front door at last.

"Hey Kenshin! Sorry about that, I lost track of time sleeping," Ryo said sheepishly while scratching the back of his head.

"That's alright. I'm early anyway and Sano and Misao are probably still in their houses anyway. I tend to be a bit early most of the time. So, you ready to go?"

"Yes." Ryo locked the door behind them then walked towards the parking area of the complex.

"Here's my car," Kenshin said while approaching a metallic blue sports car.

"Nice car. So when did you get this?" Ryo inquired as they were getting inside the car.

"I just got this a year ago. I bought it with the help of my Uncle. I'm living with him, sort of like my guardian. I also work for his company part time so I managed to save enough money to buy this."

"For just working part time? You should introduce me to your uncle sometime, there might be an opening or something," Ryo said jokingly. "What's the company anyway?"

"Real estate"

"Oh, so I'm guessing you had a huge commission in one of the projects the previous year."

"You can say that."

"That's great!"

"It is," Kenshin replied in a not-so-enthusiastic voice with a tinge of amber circling his eyes.

Ryo noticed the change in Kenshin's voice, but ignored it anyway. _'It probably has nothing to do with my questions. He probably was just thinking about something or getting bored.' His thoughts were diverted when Kenshin suddenly stepped on the brakes causing Ryo to lean forward._

"Damn. That moron, cutting people like that, without even using directionals," Kenshin muttered to himself. "Sorry about that, you ok?"

"I'm fine. Why'd you become all fiery all of a sudden?"

"Idiots should not be allowed on the streets," Kenshin replied coldly not addressing anyone in particular. 

_'Now he's definitely acting weird.'_

"Can I open the radio?" Ryo asked.

"Yes."

"Thanks."

They arrived the mall a while later without talking much at all after the little braking incident. Ryo decided to keep his mouth shut for a moment until Kenshin cools down. His gaze was intense and almost glaring the whole time he was driving, which Ryo felt without any difficulty.

_'I have to stop my feelings from rushing.' ***takes a deep breath***_

Kenshin turned to Ryo and said, "We're supposed to meet them in front of the coffee shop just about this time," with the usual smile plastered on his face.

Ryo replied with a casual nod and walked towards the shop with Kenshin leading the way. Misao spotted the two a few meters away from the coffee shop and perkily waved at them.

"You're late," Sano said.

"Since when did you get so time conscious?" Kenshin asked.

"Since 10 minutes ago which I recall was the time we agreed to meet."

"Sorry, it was my fault. Kenshin came early and I was just getting out of bed when he came."

"Don't worry about it. Let's just have fun already, ok?"

"Where do you want to go first?" Kenshin asked.

"I want to buy a new CD so why don't we go to that first? "

"Yes ma'am!" Sano said and the whole group proceeded to the record store.

**

_'This is boring. I'm quite sure they're not going to touch her in a public place.' Soujiro quickly glanced at his back when he sensed someone._

"It's you. You're not supposed to be here as I recall. I gave Saito-sama my word that you will not appear here," Soujiro whispered.

"Then I am not here."

"Stubborn."

Aoshi remained silent while keeping an eye on the four teenagers.

"You don't think I can handle this?" _'Jeez… this is what I'm supposed to do. It's what I'm hired to do! But there's no use telling Aoshi that again. I've tried to convince him a million times to leave the tailing to me… but noooo. At least, it has become less over time, he just pops out once in a while.'  "This is carelessness. You are not allowed to be seen wandering around the mall. What if one of your students recognize you?"_

"Teachers go to the mall."

"Useless," Soujiro murmured. "This can't continue anymore."

"Do what you want."

*Sigh* _'What an asshole.' Soujiro thought as he gave the topic up._

**

"The movie was great!" exclaimed Misao.

"It was," agreed Kenshin.

"Yo, are you people hungry? 'Coz I am. The mall's almost closing so, let's just grab a pizza then we can eat it somewhere. You guys ok with that?"

"Sure!"

"So any volunteers?"

"Can we stay at your place Ryo? Kenshin's the only one who've seen it."

"Dad's not home so it will be alright."

"Yeah! That sounds great."

**

"They're on the way to the apartment. The three's staying for pizza. Check the database for Himura Kenshin, Sanosuke Sagara and Makimachi Misao. Now."

"Yes sir."

***Click***

A few minutes later

"Got it. Their files are clean sir."

"Good."

***Click***

**

"Come in people."

"Hey, this place's neat!" Sano complimented.

"What drinks do you want?"

"Sprite here!"

"Pepsi!"

"Water's fine. I'll help you," Kenshin offered.

"You're dad's always out?" Misao asked.

"Most of the time. He's really busy. So the apartment's pretty much to myself."

"Let's start eating!" Sano said as he got the first slice of pizza.

"Can I use your phone for a minute? I have to tell Gramps that I might be home a bit late," Misao said as she glanced at the clock, which said it was almost nine.

"Sure go ahead. The phone's at the kitchen counter."

"Thanks."

The four finished the pizza and chatted their way through the night. It might have lasted even later if Misao didn't start yawning. And you know how yawns tend to be contagious, one yawns, everybody yawns.

"We better get going," Misao suggested.

"Guess we should. It's really late and we're all tired but I had a great time today," agreed Kenshin.

"Me too. We should do this more often."

"Yeah!" Sano exclaimed.

"Well, see you in school on Monday Ryo."

"Ok. Goodnight. Bye."

"Bye."

**

***Phone rings***

"It is about time!"

"I'm sorry Soujiro. I didn't realize it was this late already."

"It's ok, I'm just kidding. I watch the house until one anyway, with friends over or not. Did you have fun?"

"Yes I did. I really did. These people are fun to be with. I've never really blended with people at school as much as I am right now."

"That's good to hear. You should never overlook happiness."

"I'll keep that in mind. Did Aoshi give you a hard time today?"

"What's new anyway?"

"Did you tell Dad already?"

"I don't have the heart to."

"All right then, you just have to bear with the consequence of being too nice. Do me a favor and tell Aoshi that it's been quite awhile since I left the age 10."

"That's no problem, I can tell him that, the problem if he'll listen to me."

"You better go home and rest now Sou-chan. You've been on the job since this afternoon, I bet you're exhausted."

"I will not leave till your 'Dad' is here, orders are orders."

"Yes, yes, I'm just worried about you." 

"Don't worry about me. Now fix the place up before he arrives."

"Ok, goodnight."

"Goodnight."

***Hangs up* **

a/n: hello again! Oh yes I think this chapter stinks. I wrote the first draft 30 minutes before I went to bed. I had this idea that if I don't continuously write, my inspiration will go away just like what happened months ago, which left my other fics unfinished. Anyway, I tried my best to edit it but I can't think of anything to improve it.  

Review please! I would really appreciate it if you would. If you're really shy or just can't think of anything you say, can you just post "I read it and or I liked it?"


	7. Haze

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. This fic is entirely fictional and Japan did not have a Project Messiah nor a Mission Messiah as far as I know.

My fic is actually picking up! The last update doubled the total amount of reviews! I'm so happy. Thank you so much. 

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Dementedchris: Thank you so much for the suggestions on how to write the dialogue and stuff. The mall-going chapter contains a couple of important hints as to how things will turn out, so it may not be as useless as we think. 

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Lady-Inu-Yasha: I'm pretty sure I won't leave this fic unfinished.

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SAGE: I guess you're right about the reviews, huh? Anyway, thanks for leaving a review for each chapter, and sorry about the PDA confusion, hihi..sorry..Oh and about Aoshi and Kaoru being caught, LOL, how come I didn't think of that?? That would have been funny, hihi. 

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MaraJadeBlu: Sorry about the recurring switch in tenses. I really tried to edit it. Maybe my eyes just got used to the text that grammar mistakes don't register anymore. I'll try and fix those soon. 

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To all: I know the last chapter was pretty vague. I intentionally did that. As to why, well maybe I wanted to leave people questions in their minds, which are to be answered in the upcoming chapters. As for the character development, I am aware that almost everyone, except Kaoru, is a flat character. Only Kaoru has the in-depth first POVs so far. Again, these will all make sense after a couple of chapters. 

If you want me to email you once I posted the next chapter, just tell me and don't forget to leave your email address.

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Other Side of the Moon

Haze

__

Chapter 7

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Forgetting the person I care about –

Where's the happiness in that?

---Misao

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

"Are there any questions?" Takahashi-sensei asked.

"None sensei," the class answered.

"Good. Class dismissed."

The class then broke off into groups talking about the upcoming project, plans, when to meet, and of course telling each other how hard Takahashi-sensei's class is.

"When's this due again?" Ryo asked.

"The end of the month," Kenshin answered.

"Ah! I hate this. I can't believe I have to work with Mikagami again!"

"Don't worry Misao we're almost halfway done with this school year. You just have to control a few months more," Kenshin said trying to ease Misao's anger. 

"Argh, I wish you or Ryo were my partner instead of that bitch. Man, even Sano is better!"

"What do you mean by that? Are you saying I'm not in the top of your wish list?"

"Not exactly," Misao answered carelessly, not really considering how Sano will react.

"Why you little?!?!?" 

"That's enough Sano. I'm sure Misao didn't mean it. She's just too caught up with her frustration," Kenshin interjected. "Isn't that right Misao?"

"Yeah, whatever," Misao answered automatically. 

"So when are you free to meet Ryo?" Kenshin said, trying to change he topic.

"I guess we can start this weekend. Is that ok?" he answered.

"Sounds good to me. What time?"

"How about after lunch?" 

"'K, where?" asked Kenshin.

"I don't know. Wherever is fine." _'Oh, how can I not consider that? Working anywhere besides my house would mean that Soujiro's going to tail me. Poor Sou-chan.'_ "I take that back. I suggest we work at my place, if that's all right with you."

"Sure no prob."

"Let's go eat! I'm tired of all this Physics planning," Sano said as he dragged the three towards the cafeteria.

**

"Having any luck Kenshin?"

"No, not at all."

Saturday afternoon--- Ryo and Kenshin were working with their project as planned. The two decided to split up the work with Ryo working on the written report and Kenshin assembling the actual model.

"This stuff just won't stick to the base. I think we should try a different type of adhesive."

"Ok. We'll do that. Don't worry we have lots of time. This ain't due in two weeks," Ryo replied as he tore his eyes away from the monitor and looked at his problematic partner.

"I know, but you know how I want to finish things ahead of time so I'll have less things to worry about," Kenshin insisted.

"That's your problem Kenshin. You worry too much."

"Because there's reason to worry."

"Sometimes, I think you're just downright paranoid," Ryo half-joked.

A defensive Kenshin answered, "I am not. I'd rather call myself cautious than paranoid."

"All the same."

"You know Ryo, when it's just us or when we're with Sano and Misao you seem different."

__

'Uh-oh, what do I know say now? Deny idiot.' "What do you mean?" Ryo answered a bit startled. 

"I mean you're more open, more relaxed. When we're around other people, it feels like you have a wall around yourself."

__

'Ahck! How could I've been so reckless? And why does this guy have to be so observant?'

"Are you all right Ryo? I'm sorry if I offended you in any way. You can just forget about it if you want."

"Well, maybe because I prefer being in a small crowd."

"Is that so. Well, let's put that aside now," Kenshin suggested and smiled.

"Thanks." 

**

__

'Finally! Bed! Oh, how I love my bed.' After Kenshin left early in the evening, Kaoru decided to clean the apartment and do the laundry. She decided to take a quick shower before going to bed, making her feel her weariness the moment she climbed her bed. _'Boy, what a day. I didn't think researching and cleaning would do this to me. I can barely move.' _

For a minute or so Kaoru just laid still on her bed waiting for sleepiness to drown her in. When suddenly she heard herself say, "Hmm..Kenshin…"

__

'Mou!! What the hell was that?' It didn't take long before she answered her question herself._ 'I now very well what that was about. I think I like this guy. Not just like, as in friend-like but… something else.'_

"Ack! Stop it! Think about something else or better yet try to get some sleep!" Kaoru screamed at herself. Just when she was about to close her eyes, she heard the doorbell ring. _'Mou! Who could be at the door at this hour?'_ Unwillingly, Kaoru forced herself out of bed and checked who the late night visitor was. She didn't feel alarmed or scared because Soujiro should have warned her already if danger waits at the porch. 

Just when she was about to open the door, she realized she was in her pajamas and wearing pink fuzzy slippers. _'Great if this one's a person from school, I'm busted.'_ Kaoru peeked through the glass before she opened the door. _'Aoshi, thank goodness' *sigh*_

"Good evening Kaoru," Aoshi greeted the girl, who opened the door, who obviously looked like someone who just walked out of bed, hair all messy and pajamas creased at every angle.

"Hello too," Kaoru replied as she motioned Aoshi to come in. "What's up?"

"Sorry for dropping at this hour, but I have something important to tell you."

This definitely shook sleepiness away from Kaoru's head. "I'm listening."

"We finally pinpointed who the 'Shadows' are."

Kaoru who was definitely taken back with Aoshi's news remained speechless.

"The people who are after you is the Takeda Enterprise."

"What? You mean the multi-billion company that owns almost half of Japan's businesses?"

"Yes."

"I didn't know they're involved with underground businesses."

"There have been rumors that not only does the said company own majority of Japan's businesses, but they are also the biggest distributor of illegal arms here in Japan."

"And you knew all of these from the beginning? How come it took you so long to find out?"

"They've been suspected from the beginning, but we can't give our conclusion with plain hearsay."

"Forgive me. What do we do now?"

"For you, same as usual. Be careful."

"For me? What do you mean? How about you and the rest?"

"Officer Soujiro, the Captain and I will continue watching you. Officer Megumi, Officer Tae and again, the Captain will start their investigation with the Takeda Enterprise. That's all we've agreed so far. We'll make our next move once we've gathered enough information."

"I see. What do you think Aoshi?"

"Don't worry. This is supposed to be good news. We're moving on to something. At least we're not fighting off people we don't even know. Soon, we'll find out their plans, which will make it easier for us to ensure your safety." 

"Thank you so…" Kaoru paused when she heard the doorbell. 

"I'll get it," Aoshi volunteered. 

"Good evening sir."

Saito acknowledged Aoshi's greeting with a nod then spoke, "Did you tell her already?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. I'll take it from here. You may go now Officer Shinomori."

Aoshi nodded then bid Kaoru farewell, "I better get going now. Goodnight Kaoru."

"Goodnight Aoshi. See you in school."

Aoshi nodded once more then stepped out of the house.

"How are you Saito-san?" Kaoru politely greeted.

"Same. Did Shinomori answer every question in your head?" he replied.

"Yes he did."

"Then why are you still sitting there? Go to your room and get some rest."

"Yes _'father.'_" Kaoru said teasingly. "Goodnight to you too."

Saito smiled inwardly with the 'father' calling then went to his position, since it's his shift to watch the girl.

A/n: I know its short, gomen… The next chapter will be posted very soon. 

Lastly, thanks to the people who reviewed…

Omochi, MaraJadeBlu, LittleDragon5, selene, Dogmatix, cool camzy blue, Lady Inu-Yasha, SAGE, Gypsy-chan, Inuki, dementedchris, Tan Kimiko, sync*in, Hell's-Angel, Koneko-dono, osvark, fangboy, sulky girl


	8. The Sudden Chilliness

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Dementedchris: Thanks for all your comments and suggestions. They're really helpful and I really try to consider each one. Archery will not be up till a couple more chapters. Soujiro's gonna be in this chapter =)

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Omochi: Isn't Saito adorable??? Haha, I think he's so cool, I like Saito a lot, hihi.

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SAGE: Your questions are definitely onto something. That's all I'm going to say! No spoilers here..hehe.

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Lady Lightningblade: The fine wine and Godiva chocolate in your review made me laugh. LOL.

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MaraJadeblu: Really? Last chapter's grammar was great?? I'm so happy, I was kinda waiting for you to say something about the grammar, lol. Don't get me wrong, you weren't being harsh at all! It actually helps me make the next chapter better.

Thanks **sync*in, Tan Kimiko, Gypsy-chan, chibigreenwizardmon, selene, Kashke**, and **Shin-chan** for your encouraging reviews.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. This fic is entirely fictional and Japan did not have a Project Messiah nor a Mission Messiah as far as I know. The makers of Weiss Kreuz own the song 'Other Side of the Moon'. I'm just borrowing it as the fic's title. 

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Other Side of the Moon

The Sudden Chilliness

__

Chapter 8

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In spite of everything,

I still believe that people are really good at heart.

-----Anne Frank, Diary of Anne Frank, 1944

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"As I was saying, before I was RUDELY interrupted by weasel girl over here," Sano spoke aloud, getting on Misao's nerves even better. 

"What did you say rooster head??" Misao burst, but this time Sano ignored her and continued. 

"I have three extra tickets to the upcoming huge game this weekend, and take note, tickets are already sold out."

"Wow, Sano, however did you get your hands on those?" Kenshin tilted his head to properly read the tickets on Sano's hand. "And they're not just 'extra tickets.' These are tickets for the lower box seats!"

"Yup, you read it right! I got these tickets from someone," Sano answered with a wink.

"Oro? Fujima-san?"

"Correct!" affirmed Sano.

"What? You mean you took advantage of the poor girl? I still think she has this virus or something for liking you so much," Misao said.

"I'm sorry but I do not follow. Who's Fujima-san?" 

"Fujima-san is a very rich junior student who has been very fond of Sano for quite sometime now," Kenshin filled in Ryo.

"I didn't take advantage or anything! I just thought it would be nice if I go out with her just this once."

"Yeah, and those tickets surely didn't serve as a bribe or anything," Misao said sarcastically.

"Aww..come one. Do you think I'll actually go out with someone if I didn't like her at all? This Tae Kwon Do Club President will not be controlled and pushed around with a mere handful of box seat tickets! I thought you would like it if you can watch the game with us."

"I can't, I promised Gramps that I'll help around this weekend. I can't leave, sorry Sano."

"How about you Kenshin, Ryo?"

"Sounds good to me," Kenshin approved.

"Ah, I'm pretty sure I can go. I think," _'This is getting embarrassing. I'm always the only one who has to ask for permission every time I go out. Soon, they'll think Ryo's such a wimp.' _Kaoru thought miserably.

"Great!!!!" Sano exclaimed catching a lot of the students' attention.

**

"Over here Ryo! We thought you'll never come."

"Sorry for being late."

"No problem. We kinda expected this anyway. By the way, I think you haven't met Akiko. Akiko this is Hirameshi Ryo. Ryo, Fujima Akiko."

Ryo extended his hand and shook Akiko's while he greeted her, "It's a pleasure to meet you Fujima-san, and thank you for the tickets." 

"Nice to meet you too, and about the tickets, you're very welcome," the girl answered sweetly.

__

'Sano must really have the charms. This girl is so pretty! Not to mention, well mannered, graceful and polite, or maybe she just has the virus like Misao said.' Kaoru thought before saying hi to Kenshin. "Hey Kenshin, what's up?"

"Same as usual. I think we better go in already, the game's beginning in twenty minutes."

Just as they were getting settled on their seats, a couple of guys walked toward their place. 

"Hey Akiko! I didn't expect that we'll meet here!" shouted one of the guys.

"Hi Makoto! Hi Toshiro" greeted Akiko.

When the two men reached their area, Akiko initiated the introductions.

"Guys, I'd like you to meet my cousin Makoto and his friend Toshiro," Akiko started, which was followed by a shake of hands between the two groups.

"Pleased to meet you," Kenshin said whenever he shook hands.

"Makoto, Toshiro, this is Sano, Kenshin and Ryo," continued Akiko.

Makoto's attention was caught when Akiko introduced Ryo, "Hey, do you have a sister by any chance named Ogata Ume?" 

Ryo shook his head almost defensively.

"How about a relative?" Makoto hopefully probed some more.

__

'Mou! What is Makoto doing here? And out of the billion people in the world, why does he have to be Akiko's cousin?? And how the hell did he recognize me? Just when did men became such observant people??'

Kaoru was miraculously saved from her overloading mind with Toshiro's apology.

"Excuse Makoto here. Actually, ignore him," Toshiro said.

"Hey!!" protested Makoto.

Toshiro ignored his companion and proceeded with his explanation, "Makoto sees Ume's face wherever he goes."

"Why who's this Ume and where is she now?" Akiko curiously inquired.

"She's a former schoolmate which Makoto has a huge crush on," Toshiro answered.

Toshiro continued, oblivious to the slight pinkish hue on Kaoru's cheeks, "But then this school year, she transferred to another school, I think. She's not studying at our school anymore." 

"Err, sorry about that Ryo. I don't know what came over me. For a second, your eyes just reminded me of Ume. What's even weird is that she doesn't even have the same color of eyes as yours," Makoto apologized, while he scratched the back of his head. He also had a slight color on his cheeks probably because of Toshiro's revelation and his sudden impulse to ask Ryo too.

"It's ok," assured Ryo.

"Yatta!" shouted Sano as the first point of the game was made.

Makoto and Toshiro headed back to their seats, while everyone started to focus on the game.

**

"What a great game!" exclaimed Sano

"Yeah it was! Thanks again Fujima-san," thanked Kenshin. 

"Stop thanking me, because it's getting annoying," Akiko said sweetly. "Can you please excuse me for a while, I have to use the powder room."

"Sure. Take your time. We'll wait right here," Sano answered.

Once Akiko was out of sight, Sano spoke to the other guys. "Can you guys offer to leave already once she comes back?"

"Oro? What do you mean?"

"I mean Kenshin, I want some private time with Akiko now that the game's over." Sano explained but became only more frustrated with the clueless look Kenshin continued to exhibit.

"Do me a favor Ryo, just take this 'oro friend' or ours away, ok?" Sano asked, terribly hoping Ryo was not the least like the clueless red head over there. Luckily he wasn't.

"Sure. No problem," Ryo answered just as she spotted Akiko heading towards their direction, "Here she comes." 

"Sorry if took a long time," Akiko apologized.

"No need to apologize, it was alright. We had a great time today. We really don't want it to end anytime soon however, Kenshin and I really need to go now."

"Aww..do you have too? Too bad," Akiko answered with a sincere disappointment in her face.

"Yes I know. Maybe we can do this another time?"

"Sure, that would be lovely."

"Well, see you around. Enjoy the rest of the evening."

"Bye."

"Bye."

"Where do you want to go now Kenshin?"

"Maybe we can go hang out in my place, if it's ok with you," Kenshin asked.

"Sure," agreed Ryo.

"Great."

**

"Come in," Kenshin said as he flicked the light switch beside the door. The lights opened instantly and revealed a cozy average-sized home, which was simply decorated but was kept quite well.

"Nice home you have," Ryo complimented as his eyes wandered around the house.

"Thanks. Shishou decorated it, but I'm the one who does most of the cleaning and maintaining."

"Shishou?" asked a confused Ryo.

"Yes, that's what I call my uncle. Remember I live with my uncle?"

"Right," recalled Ryo.

"He's the one who taught me kendo. I've called him Shishou ever since."

"I see. Is he home?"

"Nope. He's out of town. So what do you want to do? Hmm.. I know, I just bought Grand Theft Auto 3, wanna play for awhile?"

"Sure!" Ryo replied rather excitedly.

"Ok, the console's in my room. It's upstairs, the first door you see to your right. Why don't you go ahead, while I get some chips and soda in the kitchen," Kenshin instructed and pointed a couple of places before he proceeded to the kitchen.

Ryo did as he was told, entering the first door to his right. Surprisingly, the room was well organized. The bed, which was pushed against the wall, had its sheets neatly arranged. The books were lined up in a small shelf. In one of the corners stood a desk with a computer on it, opposite of which was the television with a VCR and PS2 console stacked in the lower shelf of the TV stand. 

__

'I always thought a guy's room was pretty messy, I guess it depends on which guy.' 

Kaoru walked towards the TV stand and found a stack of video games piled under it. '_Let's see, Grand Theft Auto he said.'_ Kaoru recalled, as she browsed through the games Kenshin owned. _'Tekken Tag!' _Kaoru eagerly popped the CD out of the case and loaded the console with the CD. 

"I think we ran out of chips so I just popped some popcorn in the microwave, if that's ok with you," Kenshin spoke aloud as he ascended the stairs with a bucket of popcorn and two cans of soda. "I see you found the games."

"Yes I did, but I chose Tekken Tag, is that ok?"

"Yurrp, I didn't now you liked that better," Kenshin assured as he munched on the popcorn.

"I like it better than GTA. Wanna play with me?"

"Sure."

"Ok, Mr. Himura get ready to lose!" Ryo proclaimed, and so the Tekken marathon began.

**

"I didn't know you were a pro Ryo," Kenshin commented after losing most of the night.

"Hehe, not really. I can't believe I'm still good at it, I haven't played for quite sometime."

"Well, you were. I didn't know that Chinese girl could be so deadly, I haven't played with someone who always chooses that girl, so I've never really seen what she can do."

'_That's probably because you always play with Sano or some guy. They always choose the mean looking characters. The main reason I choose Xiaoyu is because she looks so cute!'_ Kaoru thought to herself. _'Wait a sec, was that a not-so-smart move? Will he suspect something?' _"Well, you should try every character you know," Ryo remarked.

"Hai, you're right. I will," agreed Kenshin.

"It's late Kenshin, I better go," Ryo said as he motioned to walk through the door.

"Do you want me to walk you?" offered Kenshin.

__

'Is this guy kidding? Do guys walk their friends home? Is this guy hitting on me??? Nah, that's impossible I'm **a** Ryo. Is Kenshin gay???? o.O;; NOOOO!!' "No thanks. I think I can manage to find my house_,_" Ryo declined. 

"Oh alright. See you in school."

"Bye."

**

__

'Did his voice actually had a worried tone?' Kaoru continued to plague her mind with questions as she followed the path home.

"Ryo…"

__

'Is Kenshin worried about me walking alone at night?' she asked some more.

"Ryo!"

__

' What is he getting at?' a frustrated Kaoru thought.

"Kaoru!"

Kaoru quickly turned around once she snapped out of her reverie and finally heard the man who had been calling out her name for the past 30 seconds.

"You almost gave me a heart attack Soujiro!! Don't ever do that to me!"

"Do what? I called your name thrice already. You didn't even hear a thing till the last call. What's eating you up?"

"Oh nothing," Kaoru denied poorly.

"Oh yes, I'm sure it was nothing, except for a certain red haired classmate who you just spent most of the evening with," Soujiro said sarcastically, immensely teasing Kaoru at the same time.

"I was not! Do not tell me you were watching us the whole time!"

"Whoever said I couldn't?" Soujiro answered mischievously.

"Sou-chan!" 

"What? Did you expect me to leave you alone with a man you barely knew? I don't think so, Ryo-chan." _'Now that just sounded weird.'_ Soujiro ended with a thought. 

"This is Kenshin, not some stranger!"

"How much do you actually know him, Ryo?"

"I… ah… I... umm..." Kaoru froze for a moment once Soujiro's question registered in her mind_. _

'How much do I actually know Kenshin?' Kaoru repeated in her head_. _

'I know he lives with his uncle, practices kendo, does relatively well in school, umm... ummm... says oro all the time, does that even count? Mou…. How much do I know Kenshin?'

'I do not know Kenshin much at all. Not at all.' 

A/n: If my memory serves me right, Fujima Akiko was the first Asian Ms. Universe Pageant winner. So, I do not own her, I'm just borrowing the name. I was originally thinking of using the name Akiko after the late empress of Japan, but I didn't have a surname. Then I ran into Fujima Akiko, so I used that name. Oki?

Sorry for the Sano/Megumi fans. I'll work something up later. 

Short again?? Gomen, don't kill me. Teehee, at least the update was faster, neh? 

To make up for my short chapters, here's a little hint and a sneak preview on Chapter 9:

__

"Just when I almost forgot who I really am, there just has to be a new assignment. Guess I have to hold my katana once again."

Kenshin, Sano and Misao's characters are FINALLY developed. 

That's all for now. Please review. Thanks.


	9. Past Existence

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Sync*in: Don't worry, this fic isn't ending soon. Nothing has really happened yet.

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MaraJadeBlu: Thank you so much for pointing out the "brag/bribe" confusion. That was pretty embarrassing, I changed it immediately. At first, I was clueless on what you were talking about. I was like, what is she talking about?? LOL. I was so sure I wrote the word "bribe" and not brag. Then I thought, "Did I place percent marks instead of quotes?" Harhar, and so I reread the chapter again and found the word brag! My eyes are playing tricks on me! Thanks again. Also.. yup I'm making up the names of minor characters, people who will probably be present in only one or two chapters.

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Selene: I just thought Kenshin looks best with a katana. Besides, Aya from Weiss Kreuz uses a katana doesn't he? Makoto from Love Hina uses one too, and both of those are set in modern times. Plus, there are still people who use and teach Japanese sword techniques today. My auntie is in Japan right now to take her test in sword. She uses a katana and a wakizashi. Hehe..enough about that. Bottom line, Kenshin just won't be Kenshin without a sword (for me that is).

Thank you so much to** Chibigreenwizardmon, laine, Tan Kimiko, Gypsy-chan, omochi, SAGE, Rurouni Baka, Enigma, Lady Lightingblade, **and **Mistress of all Worlds**. Your reviews really made me smile like an idiot. Hehe. 

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To all… Hello! As I expected, the sneak preview was a little too obvious. Yes it was Kenshin talking. I hope this chapter will answer all your questions. Enjoy reading!

Do you people remember the Saito-Kenshin fight? Episodes 29-30 I think. The fight was magnificent and to top it all, aaaaaah!! Kenshin was so gorgeous! You know, when his hair tie snapped and his hair was loose and swooshing in all the right places! ::drools:: Plus he was going all battousai..errr…::drools again:: Forgive my rants, I am just happy. I finally received the DVD containing those episodes. It's been more than a year since I saw Rurouni Kenshin so I kind of forgot the details already. And now, my newest craze is to collect RK DVDs. 

OK and because RK DVDs cost so much and I'm just a poor student…I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. This fic is entirely fictional and Japan did not have a Project Messiah nor a Mission Messiah as far as I know.

****

Other Side of the Moon

Past Existence

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Chapter 8

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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On a journey, ill,

And over fields all withered, dreams

Go wandering still.

--Bansho (trans. Henderson)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ready for the big test Ryo?"

"I guess so, Misao."

"Why should you even bother asking him? He always gets an A+ in every single test and paper anyway. Jeez," Sano exclaimed.

"I think you're just jealous Sano. Maybe its about time you ask Ryo to help you." _'This guy's pride is sky-high I bet,'_ Misao thought.

"Nah I can handle it, I'm sure I got it this time."

"That's good to hear Sano. I'm sure you'll do better," Kenshin encouraged. 

Shinomori-sensei stepped inside the room carrying a bundle of test papers. "Ok class, I want you to sit alphabetically starting from this side." The class started moving, talking, bumping into one another, and getting mixed up.

"The test will end in exactly one hour. Even if this is your last period for the day, I will not extend the time. The test is long if I may add, so I leave it up to you when you want to start," their teacher warned.

The class became quiet and quickly went to their respective places having momentary confusion once in a while.

"Ok, nobody talks until the bell rings." That was the last statement Shinomori-sensei said before he handed out the test papers.

When Ryo finished the test, he glanced at his watch and found out that he finished 10 minutes ahead of time. However, he can't just leave class because Shinomori-sensei said he'd collect all the papers at exactly 12 noon. So while, gazing out of the window waiting for the bell to ring, his mind started wandering.

'_It has been more than seven months since I've been Hirameshi Ryo. It surprises me that whoever's responsible have not discovered me yet, or has not made a move. Is this identity really working or are they just waiting for the right time, when everybody's defenses are down? _

Putting that aside, I am extremely happy that I've been actually normal for the past seven months, that is if you consider having someone to watch you 24/7 is what you call normal. At least, no one's abducting me or anything. When the time comes that they find me again, I would never see these guys again. No more bickering Sano and Misao, or an always calm Kenshin who breaks each and every fight. I've never been this close to anyone except with the Mission Messiah and my late parents. I will surely miss them, especially this clueless redhead who sits in front of me.

I know. I know. I should not be thinking of such things, especially in my situation. I tried to stop myself but he's just plain adorable. Plus we're always together, we hang out with the same group and we do every Physics assignment, report or whatever together. Am I actually falling for this guy? 

I honestly don't know. I've never fallen in love before, not until now I guess. But this is wrong. I'll just put his life in danger if I let him through my barriers. It's enough that the family I consider right now is risking their lives every second, just for being part of the Mission. I am not that selfish to involve these innocent people. They're young, free, and careless. The future has so much in store for them. 

Mou. Now I sound like an old person. I just envy them, I regret the teenage life I never experienced.'

In the meantime, while Ryo was pondering about things, Kenshin's thoughts weren't in the classroom either.

__

'The sky's clear. It makes it seem like everything is perfect. There's the catch, seems, but not really. 

What does he have in store for us now? It must be something important, he wouldn't even give me a clue, not until the whole group's there. *Sigh* Just when I almost forgot who I really am, there just has to be a new assignment. Guess I have to hold my katana once again.' 

****

*Bell rings* 

"All right class. Please pass your paper to the aisle, then people on the aisle, please pass the papers to the front."

"How did you do Sano?" Misao asked, after passing the papers to the front.

"I told you I'll out do myself this time! I answered every problem. That increases my chances a lot, I usually skip a lot of numbers on math exams," bragged Sano.

"Good luck, Sano. I have a feeling, exam results will be great news for you," said Ryo.

Sano playfully slapped Ryo's back, which again, wasn't exactly what you call playful for Kaoru. "Thanks Ryo. At least some people have faith in me, not like others!" Sano fished.

Misao who got the hint, finally said, "All right Sano. I give you my support too."

"That's the spirit!" Sano replied then laughed maniacally to himself. 

__

:: everybody sweat dropped ::

It didn't take long before the four students made their way home and reached the street where Misao and Sano turns to the right while Ryo turns left and Kenshin walks straight ahead. "Guess I'll see you tomorrow Ryo," Misao bid.

"Ok. Later, bye."

Kenshin smiled and waved, while Sano raised his eyebrows and grinned. Ryo started walking away while the other three watched him go. 

"Tonight at 8," Kenshin said while still staring at their friend's retreating figure.

"Have any idea?" Misao asked.

"No."

"I see. Tonight then." And with that Kenshin started walking straight towards his street while the other two to their right.

**

It was 8 o'clock and all four of them were gathered inside Hiko and Kenshin's house.

"So who are we eliminating this time?" Sano inquired casually, as he draped one arm across the sofa.

"We are not killing anyone this time. We were supposed to kidnap someone," Hiko said then paused for a second as he observed the teenagers' reactions. The three remained passive so he continued, "Kanryu Takeda, of the Takeda Enterprise, proposed a business for us yesterday afternoon." 

__

'Wait, "supposed to"?' Misao recalled. "So you didn't accept the proposal?" 

"No I did not because they refused to give their intentions."

****

*Begin flashback*

"I want you to kidnap the boy and bring him to us unharmed, not even a scratch. The payment for that will be five million dollars. I think that will be enough," spoke Kanryu.

"Why are we doing this?" Hiko replied.

"That is none of your business. Your job is to get the boy and that's all you need to know."

"Then I refuse to accept your offer," he declined.

"Not even if I double, or…triple the payment? If you want, I'll even give you a generous down payment," Kanryu tempted as he reached for the checkbook in his jacket's inner pocket. 

"Our agency refuses to do anything without having a purpose. I refuse to further stain my subordinates' hands for an unknown reason."

Kanryu's eyebrows furrowed, then snorted before bitterly saying, "Very well. You've just turned your back to probably one of your biggest deals ever."

"I have no regrets," answered Hiko.

****

*End flashback*

"If the deal's off then what are we doing here, right now?" Sano asked impatiently. 

"You want us to find out their intentions. You want us to find out what they want with the boy you mentioned," Kenshin addressed Hiko flatly.

"You figured it out. You're not such a baka after all," his shishou taunted.

"What gave you the idea we'll accept the assignment??"

"Misao's right. Why would we do something out of your curiosity?" Sano added.

"Because I think you would be very interested with the person you're supposed to kidnap," the older man teased.

"Oh yeah? Who is it?" dared Sano.

"Hirameshi Ryo."

"You're kidding?!?" Misao said with incredibly huge eyes.

"What do they want with Ryo?" Sano muttered.

"That's what you're supposed to find out," Hiko answered the obvious. "So are you in?"

"Yes," Sano and Misao said simultaneously while Kenshin gave a small nod and remained silent.

**

"I can't believe they're after Ryo," Misao said softly as Sano pulled over in front of her house.

"Me neither. He doesn't seem like a bad guy, or maybe its pure acting."

"I hope not. I hope he just has information or something. They didn't want to kill him right? They probably want something from him."

"Maybe," Sano replied.

"I'm just glad Hiko didn't accept the job. It would have been difficult, especially for Kenshin," she said.

"You're right. Wait, why is it more difficult for Kenshin?" questioned Sano.

"The two have practically become best friends over the months. Wonder what he's thinking right now?" Misao thought further.

"I don't know either. Better go in Misao, it's late. You grandfather's probably waiting for you," he said as he opened the car door for her.

"Thanks for the ride Sano. Goodnight."

"Night Misao." After making sure Misao was already inside, Sano drove home.

****

*Dials phone*

"Hello?"

"Yo Kenshin, its me."

"Hey Sano," greeted Kenshin.

"You all right buddy?" Sano asked in a concerned tone.

"Of course I am. What made you think I'm not?"

"Nothing. Misao was kind of worried about you. You know, how you're dealing with the situation."

"What do you mean?" Kenshin asked innocently.

"Come on man, stop being your clueless old self, and help me out on this. Misao thinks you and Ryo are best friends."

"I'm ok. We don't know anything yet so, I'm not really thinking about anything."

"Yeah right man. How I wish you were like that, but you aren't. You're this worrywart who burns his brains worrying over nothing most of the time."

"Trust me, I'm ok, but I'm sleepy right now. So bye Sano."

"I'll let it go this time 'coz I'm sleepy too, but Kenshin, push the situation aside first ok?"

"Yes, bye Sano."

"Bye."

****

*Hangs up*

__

'Push the problem. Maybe for tonight, but the quest for answers begins tomorrow. Who really is Hirameshi Ryo? Or rather who is she?' Kenshin noted between his thoughts_._ _'I'm pretty sure the girl I saw that morning, and the Ryo I was with are the same person.'_ Kenshin confirmed as he recalled what happened that day. 

****

*Flashback Begins*

"Is everything alright Ryo? I heard a loud crash. You ok…th..there?" Kenshin barely managed to finish his question when he heard the person speak as he looked through the window. There he saw a girl wearing a light nightgown, sprawled on the floor in a rather awkward position. The girl's gown was slightly disheveled and was pulled up to her mid-thigh, her creamy-white legs slightly apart. He could only see a profile of her face, which was turned towards the other side of the room. Her back, which was hooded by a pool of long black locks, was facing him as she lay on the floor. His eyes settled longer on her right arm, which was very red and had hints of blood from scratches, which were probably caused by the impact with the wooden floor. Gently she began to show signs of movement, obviously trying to stand up or maybe sit up. Quickly, Kenshin turned around and tried to hide his blush, that was when he heard a voice answer his inquiry. 

****

*End of Flashback*

__

'What do they want with her? Is she just as tainted as I am or is there something more? I..I don't know if I want to know.' Kenshin thought as his mind began drifting to the little incident again. His curiosity was only heightened when he recalled the gashes and bruises he observed at Ryo's elbow at the mall_. _

'Just when I thought I knew everything I needed to know.' That wasKenshin's last thought, as his eyes slowly drifted to sleep. 

A/n: Shakespeare's Hamlet influenced a part of this chapter. 

In case you didn't notice, got confused or just forgot, the latter flashback supposedly happened in Chapter 5: Enjoyment. It was the chapter when they went to the mall and Kenshin had to pick up Ryo. Though, I chose not to include the actual event in Chapter 5. Instead I just left small hints like Kenshin barely finishing his question and releasing a suppressed "ok." Also, Kenshin's reckless driving was influenced by Ryo's inquiry. Remember, Ryo asked about Kenshin's part time job (Kenshin lied and said it was real estate) then Kenshin's mood suddenly changed?

I hope that cleared things up. I hope things tied all together too. 

Please review! Thanks!


	10. Fathom

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Kero-chan: Your review made me have this big stupid smile on my face..Teehee, thank you. About your question, well I would like to believe that Aoshi's not pushing his grades up, but I don't know. Anyway, he still has lots of subjects he has to work hard on with teachers, which are really teachers (you know what I mean). 

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Leigh: Your question (actually the wondering thing) totally caught me off guard. I'm still thinking about it.

Special thanks to **Shin-chan, Enigma, dementedchris, Cherie, omochi, Chibigreenwizardmon, selene, Nim, Lady Lightningblade, rebecca**, and **Gypsy-chan**. Most of you got excited with last chapter's twist. Glad to know you liked it. Thank you so much for your great reviews!

Disclaimer: This fic is entirely fictional and Japan did not have a Project Messiah or a Mission Messiah as far as I know.

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Other Side of the Moon

Fathom

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Chapter 9

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon. Sano, Kenshin and Misao decided that this would be a good day to start their investigation. The three of them were gathered at Kenshin's home, having a small meeting on what each decided to do for the day.

"What have you found out Misao?" Kenshin started.

"Well, I decided to start with Ryo's school files, his previous schools, towns, etc."

"I see. So, you're going to check them out?" Kenshin assumed.

Misao nodded in approval.

"Why don't you go with Misao, Sano? I browsed through Ryo's files and it looked like some places will take a few hours drive. I think it would be safer if both of you shall go," advised Kenshin.

"Kenshin! I'm not a damsel in distress who needs protection! I'm an equal member of this group," protested Misao.

"I'm sorry Misao. I didn't mean it that way. I just thought that you'd accomplish more if the two of you work on it," explained Kenshin.

"Sounds good to me," Sano replied then, asked, "How about you Kenshin, where are you going?"

"An old friend who might have some information."

Sano raised an inquisitive eyebrow at Kenshin's vague reply, but decided to drop the subject since Kenshin doesn't seem to be in the mood to share today. "I see. Well we better get going weasel," Sano spoke as he stood up from his chair.

"Don't call me weasel!" screeched Misao. "I can't believe I'm stuck with you for a day," she complained as she followed the taller guy walk towards the door.

"I'm sure we'll have a great time!" taunted Sano. "Bye Kenshin. See ya."

"Bye Sano. Bye Misao. Talk to you later," Kenshin bid as the two figures walked out the door.

Once the two were out, Kenshin flipped open the folder he had in hand and browsed through the papers inside. He had done a little research on Ogata Ume, the girl which Akiko's cousin remarked as Ryo's potential sister. Kenshin decided that the best place to start his investigation was Ogata Ume's old school, Morimoto High.

It was a two-hour trip from Kenshin's place to the high school. He arrived at around noon. He hopped out of his car a little tired, not because of the drive, but because of the hot weather. He noticed that not-so-few cars and buses parked at the school. He continued walking out of the parking lot and found that, surprisingly, the school was packed with students although it was a Saturday. 

Kenshin heard one of the girls' complaint, as he made his way across the grounds, "Saturday classes suck! I was looking forward to spend my weekend at the beach since Monday!"

"Well, we're doing this for the play, which may I remind you will be 20% of our final grade," replied the girl with brown hair.

"I know, I know. Gosh, I wish Ume was here, she could probably excuse us from this stupid play!" replied the other girl with glasses.

Kenshin took advantage of this opportunity to ask about the girl mentioned, "Excuse me."

The girls stopped their talk and turned their heads toward the voice. Upon seeing the owner of the voice, the girl with short brown hair acknowledged his presence. She smiled and answered, "Yes?"

"Hi! I'm looking for an old friend. Her name's Ogata Ume, do you know her by any chance?"

"Hai, we do, but we can't really help you find her," the girl with glasses answered.

"Oh," Kenshin acted dumbfounded.

"She's not studying here anymore. My name's Mieko," the girl, who spoke about going to the beach, explained.

"Is that so? I was really looking forward to see her again. We haven't seen each other for years. Last time she wrote me, she said she was studying here," Kenshin added as he continued his innocent act. "Oh, and excuse me for being rude, my name's Kenshin, Himura Kenshin. Are you Ume's friends?"

"Yes, we met in the squad. She was head cheerleader last year. My name's Yuriko," she said.

"And we would have been excused from this play if we only had Ume to talk to the principal for us!" released a very frustrated Mieko.

__

'Mieko is certainly acting weird today. Himura-san's going to think were a group of weirdoes. I hope not, he's kinda cute.' thought Yuriko.

"Don't you know anyone who might have an idea about Ume's whereabouts? I'm only in town for a couple of days. I'd really like to see her before I go," Kenshin tried to dig up some more.

__

'He's certainly persistent. Is this Ume's boyfriend?' Mieko thought before suggesting, "Maybe you can go ask Koji."

"Koji?" he asked curiously.

"Yes, Koji. He's sort of Ume's number one fan, and maybe her unofficial photographer. If you ask me, he's pretty creepy, following Ume around and taking pictures all the time. But Ume never made a big fuss over it; in fact he even treated Koji as a friend. You can always find him at the library, the one with the big round glasses, which sort of has a permanent spiral pattern on the lens," she said.

"Thanks. I'll go look for him now. Nice meeting you all," Kenshin thanked before he proceeded to the school library.

"He was pretty cute, wasn't he?" Yuriko shared.

"Yeah, but forget about him he's only in town for days right? You'll probably never see him again," Mieko casually replied before going inside the building.

**

__

'Glasses with swirls? That was what she said right?' Kenshin thought as he walked around the library looking for the man named Koji. He already strolled inside the whole place twice, but he couldn't seem to find the guy he was looking for. _'Maybe he's not here.'_ Just when he was about to give up, a guy with glasses stepped inside the library. _'There's swirly-eyes,' _Kenshin said to himself as he subtly followed the newcomer. 

The guy named Koji chose to sit at the table located at the far end of the hall. He routinely brought out his book and pen from his bag and started scribbling stuff on his book. 

"Hey there, are you Koji?" Kenshin asked.

The guy turned his head around and found a man with red hair. He nodded.

"I'm Himura Kenshin, Ogata Ume's friend. A girl I just met, I believe Mieko's her name, told me you may have information on how I could contact Ume," introduced Kenshin.

"You're her friend? Funny she never mentioned you," he replied.

__

'Shit. What's my excuse?'

"But it doesn't surprise me though," the young man continued, "She rarely mentions names of personal acquaintances."

"Yup that's Ume, I see she haven't changed since we were kids," Kenshin agreed and laughed lightly as an idea formulated in his mind, "I bet she's still this freckled girl who always wears her hair on pigtails," he continued.

"That's where you're wrong, she's grown up into a beautiful lady!" he disagreed then added sadly, "But I have no idea where she is right now." Pause. The short silence was ended when the young man spoke again. "Wanna see a recent picture of her?" Koji offered thoughtfully.

__

'Bingo.' "Yes, I'd like that," Kenshin replied.

"So when did you last see her?" Koji tried a casual talk as he looked for the picture in his bag.

"I think we were 10, but we remained in contact through letters and calls. But I was really busy for the past couple of years, so the last time we actually talked was almost two years ago," invented Kenshin.

"Too bad. Here it is! And a good picture too!" Koji said as he handed Kenshin the picture.

The imaged captured was that of a girl with long brown hair, with big green eyes. Her hair was tied up high with a purple ribbon, which seems to be part of the cheerleader uniform, she had on. And then there was her smile, not a huge overly happy smile, but a lopsided, sweet kind of smile, curved up towards the left side of her face. 

__

'This smile. I've seen this before,' Kenshin recognized. _'Ryo,'_ he confirmed, then Makoto's words rang in his head. _'::Your eyes just reminded me of Ume. What's even weird is that she doesn't have the same color of eyes as yours.:: Ryo has blue eyes.' _

Kenshin decided to test his luck once more, and asked Koji, "I remember Ume wearing eyeglasses. Is she wearing contacts now?"

"I'm not sure, though she may have. I remember her blinking a lot whenever the wind blows," Koji inferred.

__

'Tough luck,' a disappointed Kenshin thought. "I see. She certainly changed over the years," Kenshin kid. "I'd better get going now. Thanks for your help."

"No problem. If you find her, can you please tell her to drop by the school some time," Koji requested.

"Sure, I will," Kenshin promised, then left the library.

**

Later that night ---

Kenshin arrived at his place at around seven. His shishou answered the door and asked how the investigation went.

"The girl has striking similarities with Ryo. She left the school right before Ryo transferred to ours. Although their looks and interests differ a lot," reported Kenshin.

"Think you wasted your time or not?" Hiko asked.

"I don't think so. Is Sano and Misao here already?" Kenshin replied and as if on cue, the doorbell rang.

"Get it baka deshi," Hiko commanded.

Kenshin hesitantly stood from his chair and got the door.

"Hey, how did it go?" Kenshin asked as he let the two in.

"Bad. We found nothing," Misao answered as she plopped on the couch.

"What do you mean nothing?" Hiko inquired.

"We just wasted our day," Sano vaguely expanded. "We went to all the places listed in Ryo's file. Everything seemed real, his files were kept at the schools listed and all that, but nobody remembers him."

"What do you mean? Care to elaborate?" Hiko said sarcastically.

"The records we gathered matched every record we found stored at each institution, but when we tried to interview possible acquaintances, nobody remembers him," Misao explained.

"How can it match their files if no one can identify him?" Kenshin asked.

"Some of the teachers say that they must have forgotten him because of the tons of students they had," Misao reported with much frustration.

"It's like he doesn't exist," Sano spoke his mind aloud.

"Maybe that's just it," Hiko spoke.

"What?" answered a clueless Sano.

"Maybe we're searching for the wrong information. Try checking out what the Takeda Enterprise wants with Hirameshi, or what they're currently busy with and see if it concerns the boy. Forget about Hirameshi's background if it's getting you nowhere," Hiko said.

Misao nodded, while Sano asked Kenshin, "What about you?"

"Pretty good for day one, I guess," he replied.

"Another way of telling "nothing"," Sano falsely interpreted, which Kenshin did not contradict. Then he said, "We'd better go, I'm tired with all the driving. Let's go Misao, I'll bring you home."

"Ok. Goodbye Hiko-san, bye Kenshin," Misao said.

"Bye Misao, Sano," Kenshin replied.

"Bye," Hiko answered shortly.

Sano walked towards the door and waved his right hand briskly just before he completely stepped out of the house.

**

Misao spent her Sunday afternoon gathering information on the activities of the Takeda Enterprise, as Hiko suggested. She had spent hours gaining access into restricted files, but gained no relevant information, which may have any connection with Ryo.

"Aahh!"_ 'All these files contain are their profits and revenues for all their legal business!' _released a pent-up Misao. 

"Hey what's up weasel?" Sano greeted as he stepped inside her room. "Your gramps let me in and told me to just go straight to your room," he said and noticed the veins ready to pop out of Misao's forehead. "You all right?" he asked.

"Yeah I'm fine, but I'm just wasting my time and effort. I have nothing," she released.

"Don't worry you'll get something soon. Maybe you should stop for a while. It's Sunday after all," Sano suggested.

"I guess you're right," Misao agreed while she stretched her back and fingers. The she asked, "How's your investigation doing? What's your plan anyway?" 

"I'll start tomorrow at school," Sano replied cockily.

"You don't seemed worried or worked out at all! Are you sure you're working on it?" Misao inquired. "What's your plan?"

"Simple, fishing," Sano beamed.

**

"You are not allowed in the kitchen, Kaoru-chan! The birthday girl is not supposed to do anything other than to have fun!" Tokio exclaimed.

The whole Mission Messiah plus Tokio were gathered at Kaoru's apartment. Since it was Kaoru's 18th birthday, they decided to have a little party. Tae, Megumi and Tokio were in charge with the kitchen while the men were just lounging around the living room. Of course, an elite military unit, that Saito loaned for the night, guarded the house, since the Mission members are not on their posts.

"That's right tanuki, besides you wouldn't want to burn the house down on your birthday, wouldn't you?" Megumi said.

"Mou. I just wanted to help. You didn't have to stress out how bad of a cook I am," muttered Kaoru.

"Don't worry Kaoru-chan. Why don't you sit for a while or go and open the radio," suggested Tae.

"I'll do that for you," volunteered Soujiro who was sitting adjacent to the sound system.

An upbeat music filled the house in an instant. Kaoru quickly pulled Aoshi to dance since he was the one sitting closest to her.

"Come on Aoshi, can you be my dance partner for a while?" pleaded Kaoru.

Aoshi merely raised his eyebrows, then closed his eyes slowly and then turned his face away from her before replying, "You must be joking."

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Kaoru sarcastically answered as she stopped pulling on the officer's arm and placed her hands on her hips. "Come on!" she said again.

"No," he said as icily as ever.

"Fine," spat Kaoru. "How about you Sou-chan? Would you mind if I ask you to dance with me?" requested the girl.

"Sure thing, Kaoru-chan. Though, I should warn you, I am not a very good dancer, I may in fact have two left feet," he warned.

"Nonsense, I'm sure you'll do fine!" she said gaily as they started to dance.

After a half an hour of nonstop dancing and laughing, Kaoru crashed on the couch feeling the muscles on her legs feel a little sore. "That was fun! Thanks Soujiro!" Kaoru said.

"You're welcome. You sure skipped a great dance Aoshi!" Soujiro said.

Aoshi looked at him blankly and was probably going to say something when Tokio called.

"The food is ready! Come inside anata," she called.

Saito, who was smoking in the patio, threw his cigarette in the ashtray and stepped inside the house.

"Wow, everything looks good! And..Mmmm.. Smells terrific too!" Kaoru said as she stared at the table with sparkly blue eyes.

"What are you waiting for? Grab a chair and let's start eating!" Tae signaled.

Dinner finished pretty fast. A small chat here and there but most of the time was just spent eating. After eating the cake, Kaoru started opening her presents.

"This one's from me and Tae," Megumi said as she a handed Kaoru a pink package with a peach bow on top.

Kaoru thanked the two women whole-heartedly before she anxiously opened the gift. 

Inside was red, lacy lingerie. 

"Megumi! Tae! What were you thinking?!!?" Kaoru exclaimed as her entire face instantly turned scarlet. Saito smirked as he saw the content, while Soujiro had a faint pink hue on his cheek for a second, before he returned to smiling mode.

"Since you're now eighteen, we figured it'll come in handy soon," Megumi said with fox ears, which have appeared as Kaoru was opening the package. 

Tae nodded in total agreement, and continued to smile.

Kaoru gave out an audible sigh and thanked the two again, this time out of mere politeness. She neatly refolded the garment and placed it inside the box. Now, it was Soujiro's turn to give his gift. 

"I hope you like it," he said as he handed a small box wrapped in yellow paper, bound with a gold ribbon.

"Thanks!" Kaoru said as she was simultaneously thinking, _'This better be not a lingerie.'_

Fortunately for Kaoru it wasn't. The box contained a small musical jewelry box. She thanked Soujiro again before she transferred her attention to the blue wrapped box with silver ribbon, the gift given by Aoshi. Inside was a new set of bow and arrow. Kaoru thanked her Archery moderator. Lastly, she received Tokio and Saito's present. It was simply an envelope sealed with a pink ribbon. Kaoru again, thanked the couple and then hastily opened the envelope. Inside was a bunch of gift cards and certificates from different stores --- a clothes shop, a record store, a bookstore and a video shop. 

"This is great! Thank you so much!" Kaoru addressed the two older couple before addressing the whole group. "This must be one of the best birthdays ever, thanks for spending it with me. I appreciate all your gifts! Ahem..Even the totally unexpected ones," she added. "I'm really happy. Thank you!!!" Kaoru repeated as her eyes started to feel watery.

"Well then, I guess it's time to clean the place up," Megumi suggested. All of them, except Saito, motioned to tidy the place up. Saito headed towards the patio again. 

"I need to talk to you," he said to Aoshi before stepping out. Aoshi stopped arranging the couch and followed the captain.

"There are rumors that Takeda is now after a boy," Saito said once Aoshi had closed the sliding door behind him. He continued, "We both know which boy he's after in case the rumors are true. Confirm if they are or not."

"I will work on it immediately," Aoshi said.

"I heard he contracted a group to do the job for him. Don't tell Kaoru about this," Saito added.

"Do the others know about this?" Aoshi asked.

"I will tell them later tonight. Megumi and Tae will help you work on this one. I want the confirmation as soon as possible. You may return inside now," he said.

"Yes sir."

__

A/n: I just want people to know that Kaoru and Ryo's birthdays are not the same so Ryo's friends weren't invited. I thought I should reintroduce the entire Mission Messiah since they've been MIA (missing in action) for quite sometime. They'll be active in the story in the next chapters so I just wanted to make sure people know or remember who they are.

Sorry if this chapter was boring, but it's necessary.

Thanks! Reviews are greatly appreciated!


	11. Little White Lies

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Sync*in: I didn't mean to confuse you, hmm..maybe I did..hehe, but I can't answer your questions here 'coz I don't want to spoil anything. 

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Kero-chan's friend (sorry she didn't mention your name)and** Rurouni Baka**: Thank you so much for telling your sister and friend to read this fic. I was really flattered. 

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Nemo: Bout the lingerie, I don't know, I think Kaoru won't be using that anytime soon. Ok, and about Kenshin giving his real name, I debated about that too. But I figured it would be risky if he gave a fake name and Makoto bumps into him while he's talking to the other school people; that would cause a major problem. Besides, James Bond practically gives his name to every person he meets doesn't he? And he's supposed to be this super top secret agent, don't you think word would have gotten around about him? Okay…I'm drifting away from the question. ^_^;;

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Susan: Thank you so much for reviewing each chapter!! Wow, thanks again! That was really nice of you.

Thank you soooo much to **LittleDragon5, MP, TigerWolf, Tanuki Dono!, dementedchris, rebecca, Koneko-dono, Gypsy-chan**, and **Mistress of All Worlds**.

I'm really surprised that everyone thought the last chapter wasn't boring at all (except for some people…harhar..just kidding Mistress of All Worlds). Anyway, on with the story…

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. This fic is entirely fictional and Japan did not have a Project Messiah nor a Mission Messiah as far as I know. The makers of Weiss Kreuz own the song 'Other Side of the Moon'. I'm just borrowing it as the fic's title. 

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Other Side of the Moon

Little White Lies

__

Chapter 10

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What's the point of being able to talk if you have to keep secrets?"

--Donkey (from Shrek)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What is taking him so long?" Misao said for the tenth time. "Were his injuries that bad?"

Misao, Kenshin and Ryo were waiting outside the school clinic for Sano. According to one of the students, who saw what happened earlier, Sano was busy demonstrating one of his best moves in Tae Kwon Do when Sano slipped. He needed to make a few steps backward for the said move when he didn't notice the towel lying on the floor. His left foot stepped on it, which caused him to slip backward and instantaneously lose balance. 

"I hope not Misao, but I don't know," answered Kenshin. "He's been inside the clinic for quite some time now."

Just then, the clinic's door opened revealing a nurse with long black hair shoving Sano out of the room.

"Ouch kitsune! That hurt!" complained Sano.

"Go back to your class Mr. Sagara. You weren't badly injured. And please, do not call me kitsune again!" the nurse said then promptly closed the door.

The three, who were worriedly waiting for Sano, all had puzzled looks printed on their faces. Kenshin broke the silence by asking, "Oro? What was that about Sano? Were you just kicked out of the clinic?"

"Err..that was nothing. Thanks for waiting for me," he answered.

"Nothing? Then, what took you so long to get out? All I see are a few bandages on your wrist," noted Misao oddly as she curiously poked on Sano's wrist.

"Well, I was trying to buy some time to be with kitsune there. Man, I didn't know the school has a new nurse, and boy is she hot!" exclaimed Sano.

__

'Kitsune? Megumi and Sano?' Kaoru suppressed a giggle. _'Now I can finally get back at Megumi,' _Kaoru thought as the scarlet present came into mind."Kitsune?" Ryo asked innocently.

"Yup, that's the nickname I gave Nurse Takani, though she doesn't seem to like it very much," Sano replied.

"Nooooo… you think? She literally drove you out of the clinic," Misao scoffed.

"I'm sure she was just playing," he replied cockily.

"Anyway, so what happened Sano?" Kenshin asked.

"I just slipped during training. I used my hand to reduce the impact, so I kind of bent my wrist a little, but it feels fine now," Sano said casually. "So, why don't we go eat now. I'm starving," he said brushing the incident off.

**

"Sano, isn't Nurse Takani older than us?" Ryo said before taking a bite on his sandwich.

Sano munched on his food for a while before replying, "Well, she's only a few years older, besides she could pass as a student, so it doesn't really matter." And then Sano's plan began. "How about you Ryo? I bet you've been attracted or have gone out with a slightly older woman before." 

Kaoru nearly choked on the sandwich she was working on. After grabbing the bottled water and gulping a substantial amount he invented, "I don't really date much. The only one I've gone out with had the same age as mine."

"How come? I don't think you have a problem on getting a 'yes' as an answer from girls," joined in Misao.

__

'This is so bad. Such a bad topic!' Kaoru's mind screamed. "Umm.." Ryo started his explanation lamely.

"What was the name of the girl you went out with Ryo?" inquired Kenshin, as he took part in the conversation.

__

'Name. Name. Can't think of a girl's name,' Kaoru thought desperately. _'Kaoru??? That is just wrong. Err…ummm..'_

"Aya. Her name was Aya," he finally said.

"Aya? Sounds like a pretty name. What does she look like?" Misao probed.

"She had short black hair and violet eyes," Ryo supplied as he recalled her fourth identity.

"Sounds pretty," Sano commented after giving out a small whistle.

Ryo just smiled and focused his attention on his food, which suddenly became so interesting. He terribly hoped they'd drop the topic soon. 

However, luck was against him that day, 'coz a few seconds later Kenshin asked, "How did you meet?"

"Our parents knew each other," he lied.

"So why'd you break up?" Misao quickly continued.

"We were young and all. My family moved, her family moved. Stuff happens," Ryo vaguely answered hoping that it'll satisfy the group's curiosity.

"How old were you then?" a curious Misao asked again.

"Around 14 I think," he recalled.

"And you haven't dated since then??? Man, what happened?" Sano said.

"As I've said, my family moves a lot, so I can't really go out with someone right now."_'This conversation is just plain awkward.' _

"Is that so? How about your friends from your former school? Do you still keep in touch with them?" Sano asked while mentally pleading, _'Come on, mention names!'_

"Ah, well, not really. Besides, I wasn't really close with any of my former schoolmates."

"How come?" Kenshin asked concernedly.

"Umm..I just can't…" he quietly said, with his eyes, cast intently on his sandwich. The three friends, who were intrigued by the gesture that accompanied his reply, stared at him peculiarly. Ryo, who felt their inquisitive gaze, lamely added an explanation, "'Coz you see, I was really involved with extra-curricular activities plus I have to maintain my grades."

Quickly thinking of a way to change the topic and to get even with all the personal interrogation he has been receiving, Ryo asked,"How about you guys? Well, ok Sano flirts every now and then, and Misao's still dreaming about Shinomori-sensei, but what about you Kenshin?"

"Oro?" he answered, obviously trying to avoid the question.

"Are you seeing someone, or who were your past girlfriends or something?" Ryo expanded.

"Ah. I'm not seeing anyone right now," he said which made Kaoru's heart jump for a sec. 

__

'What was that for? Kaoru no baka,' she thought to herself.

"And I've never had 'girlfriends,' only one," he added.

"What was the name of the girl you went out with Kenshin?" Ryo said as he imitated Kenshin's earlier question.

"Tomoe," he said shortly.

"Yeah I remember her, a total babe," Sano said slyly which earned a hot glare from Kenshin. "I'm just kidding man," Sano quickly added.

Kaoru, who saw the glare Kenshin gave, instantly presumed, _'She must have been a great girl. Wonder if Kenshin still loves her?' _"Was she your friend?" Ryo asked the group.

"We knew her, mere acquaintance, not really a friend. Don't you know the first rule of dating? Never date a friend, especially a close friend," Sano said then added playfully, "So if you have plans of asking Misao out, then forget it. Though, I certainly don't know anyone crazy enough to ask a weasel out."

"Why you little!!" erupted Misao, as her fist automatically aimed for the tall boy's head.

"Kidding! Kidding!" Sano said in quick surrender, both his hands raised up.

Kaoru's heart was slightly tugged by the rule Sano mentioned. She zoned out for awhile thinking about the feelings she has for her 'close friend,' while the other two were busy squabbling. 

"So what happened?" Ryo asked after returning back to earth.

"Her old boyfriend showed up, swept her off her feet, and stole her from Kenshin," Misao said sarcastically after calming down from Sano's 'joke.'

"It wasn't like that Misao," Kenshin said defensively. "We both decided things would work out better if she stayed with Akira," he explained quietly.

"But you were still in love with her when all that happened, weren't you?" Misao asked concernedly.

"She found her happiness, and I'm happy for her for finding that. Anyway, I've moved on haven't I?" Kenshin said with a forced chuckle, which was followed by uncomfortable silence. "Anyway, what was her name again, Ryo? Aya---" Kenshin asked.

"Kajiyama. Kajiyama Aya," Ryo completed.

**

Misao clicked on some more files of the Takeda Enterprise until she encountered a folder simply labeled as File489542. Misao doubled clicked the folder, broke the codes and started reading the contents.

__

'I can't read this. These are all codes, numbers.' 

'Wait a sec." 

At the bottom of the file, four words were written--- Project Messiah: Kamiya Kaoru.

Misao hurriedly typed the words Project Messiah in a search engine. 

"Any progress?" Sano asked as he and Kenshin came back from the kitchen. Both were holding bags of chips and a couple of sodas.

"I think so. Give me a sec." Misao scanned through the 'hits' the engine found, randomly clicking on the ones, which she thought, might be useful.

"Nothing. I guess we'll have to look harder. I'll try Kamiya Kaoru in the meantime," she spoke after awhile.

In the screen appeared a few shops, schools and personal web sites, all with either the name 'Kaoru' or 'Kamiya' in their page. On one of the first hits was a site for missing children. Misao decided to check it out.

"What's this?" she thought aloud. The two boys looked closer at the window Misao was referring to, and read through the material.

"Kamiya Kaoru, reported missing after an escaped convict murdered her family," Misao read aloud.

"Man, that was just cruel. Look at the year she was missing and her age then," Sano pointed, as the other two looked at the indicated year 1996 and the age 12. Sano continued, "She'd be as old as us now."

"She would be," Kenshin agreed as his eyes darkened a bit.

"Think Takeda has her?" Misao asked.

"I don't know, but I don't see what Ryo has to do with any of these," released Sano exasperatedly.

"I'll try Project Messiah again," Misao volunteered.

"Yes!!!" she screamed after half an hour or so.

The two men who were busy with the chips looked at the once again perky Misao, both waiting for her to continue.

"I found it!" she said ecstatically. She continued, "According to this, Project Messiah was a government funded research led by a certain Dr. Kamiya."

"And…?" Sano asked, prompting Misao to continue.

"That's it," she said.

"What?" Sano burst. "That's all?? Let me see," he said as he stooped down to see the computer's monitor and started speed reading the file.

"I can't believe this! We've been looking for this 'Takeda business' for hours and all we get is this?" Sano released his frustrations.

"Correction," Misao answered bitterly. "I have been working on this for hours while the two of you were working on your chips."

"Try looking up for Kajiyama Aya," Kenshin said.

"Who?" Sano asked, as Misao quickly typed the name. 

"Ryo's old girlfriend," Kenshin reminded the taller boy.

"What for?" he asked.

"I just want to check if she'll link into this case somehow, wouldn't hurt to try." Kenshin answered.

"Ok man. Whatever, but I sure don't follow the logic of that one," Sano said.

"Here I found it," Misao informed after she opened a class home page.

"Yokohama High," Kenshin read the heading.

"They have a little info page for each student, I'll go look for hers," Misao informed the group before she started clicking on the mouse again.

"It even comes with a picture," she said as they waited for the page to finish. The group waited anxiously for the picture to show even Sano, who suddenly showed interest once the word 'picture', was mentioned.

"Pretty cute. Although a more recent picture of her would have been greatly appreciated," Sano said. 

The picture revealed a seemingly cheerful young girl with short black hair and a pair of violet eyes, as Ryo described. She was also wearing a pair of eyeglasses and a small smile. 

__

'That smile. It's the same smile again,' Kenshin noted. 

"Nothing connected to the Project Messiah nor Kamiya Kaoru here," Misao confirmed.

__

'Kamiya Kaoru?' Kenshin echoed as an outrageous idea crossed his mind. _'Is it possible that Ogata Ume, Kajiyama Aya, and Hirameshi Ryo are all Kamiya Kaoru?'_ he wondered. _'Am I actually making sense? A picture, I need to see a picture of the missing girl.'_

"What was the address of the site for missing children again, Misao?" he asked.

"Hmm..I can't remember, I'll go check again," she said.

"Thanks, that'll be great," Kenshin said.

"What's up Kenshin?" asked Sano, who was once again lost on whatever Kenshin has in mind. 

"I just want to check something."

"Here," Misao said after uploading the page. 

"Thanks," he said as he tried to memorize the address.

**

"The rumors are confirmed to be true sir," Aoshi reported. "The kidnapping proposal was offered about a week ago according to our investigation."

"Who did Takeda conduct business with?" asked the captain.

"A certain underground agency. Not much information is known. Informants say that top influential people and corporations strictly contact the agency. They are said to finish the job swiftly, efficiently and cleanly."

"I want to know who this mystery agent is, as soon as possible. I want you to start tonight. While you're at it, tell the Mission we will meet at Kaoru's apartment tomorrow night. I think it's time we introduce Kaoru to Miyuki."

"Yes sir."

**

Kaoru quickly put on her robe before answering the door. Whoever's standing at the other side has been standing for quite sometime now since Kaoru did not hear the bell ring while she was in the shower.

"Wait a minute," she said as she was unlocking the door. Then she said, "Come in" once she saw whom the late visitor was.

"Thanks. Were you already sleeping?" he asked.

"Nope. I was in the shower. Sorry about that," Kaoru answered.

"I see. Well, I just dropped by to tell you about the meeting we'll be having here tomorrow," Aoshi said.

"A meeting? Here? What for?" she asked consecutively.

"We have information that Takeda already knows your current identity," he replied flatly.

"What? You mean, I can't be Ryo anymore?" Kaoru asked worriedly.

"As you and I both know, these reports usually indicates that the current situation is not working. Officer Megumi and Tae are working, or rather polishing up your new identity as we speak. If it will make you feel better, it'll be a girl," he said hoping to lighten her mood, which unfortunately didn't have any effect.

"But, I'll be graduating soon. If I leave now, I might not get my diploma," she said sadly.

"Don't worry. I'll speak with the principal. I'll try to convince him to give you a special consideration. It wouldn't be so hard, based on the grades you've received," he reassured.

Kaoru remained quiet, her eyes cast to the floor.

After a few minutes of silence, Aoshi stood up and motioned to leave. He said as he was walking out, "I'm sure they'll miss you too."

That caught Kaoru's attention, and made her rapidly move her eyes towards the man's retreating figure. She starred at him flabbergasted.

"They were nice kids," he simply added before shutting the door behind him.

__

**

[KAORU]

__

Tomorrow may be my last day as Ryo for all I know. Mou. This really sucks. I love this school. I love my classmates, friends, and heck, even my teachers. The event I've been dreading for the past couple of months, is finally happening. I'll be leaving them soon. Even though, I've kind of expected this to happen from the beginning, why do I still feel this way? Why did I let myself become too close with them? We'll only part anyways.

Kaoru no baka. Falling for your 'bestfriend.' A 'bestfriend' who doesn't even know you're a girl. Just think of his reaction when he finds out--- finds out that you're a girl and that you're in love with him. I can just picture him saying "yuck." Hmm..maybe not yuck, "Eeew?" That's just not Kenshin. Kenshin's sweet, polite, cheerful and ignorant, if I may add. Hail the clueless oro one! 

…That I've secretly fallen in love with for the past couple of months. 

Mou. Why did that always have to creep in between my thoughts? Honestly, I've never thought I'll fall for an all-nice guy like Kenshin. Sure, I've always had fantasies of my fearless knight riding his white steed and coming to sweep me off my feet. A perfect gentleman, my prince charming, yet the one I imagined also had this dashing dark side, which made him even more 'droolish.' 

Kenshin. Oh Kenshin. Ken---

But then there's that stupid rule. Never date a friend. Although for the rule's defense, that's not an irrational rule at all. Relationships can certainly ruin friendships. Granted that there's always a possibility that they can be friends again afterwards even if things do not turn out perfect, but of course, things will be different. It will be impractical to say that nothing will change after an intimate relationship has transpired. I guess the only valid reason one may have to bend the rule, is if you're sure that you and your 'close friend' will be together forever, that he's the one; that the two of you are meant to be together!

Now, that's just wishful thinking. Besides, who gave me the authority to talk about these things? I haven't even had a single boyfriend before! And here, I'm talking about how it will affect friendship. My theories are so not based on evidences, heck even personal experiences.

I am so weird. This is just weird. What would he think? Umm..hi Kenshin, sorry if I didn't tell you sooner but I'm really a girl and I really love you. 

That would certainly freak anyone out.

Besides, he'll never know who Ryo really is, or what Ryo really is. He'll never know. Why should he know? Or how could he know? Ryo will be gone the day after tomorrow.

I'm confused. I've been babbling all night, and why?

To hide my true feelings. 

I don't want to say goodbye. I don't want to leave school, and it's not just because I'm worried about not being able to finish high school this year.

Stupid Kenshin.

**

Kenshin was busy typing away on his laptop, working on the case again. He revisited the web site he memorized earlier and looked if there were any pictures available. He patiently waited for the page to finish completely and saw the picture of the missing girl. Next, he downloaded the program, which enables you to develop and infer how a person will look years later by the mere use of a picture.

"70% completed," he read. _'Just a few minutes more.'_

Kenshin patiently waited till the new picture was completed. 

"File done," he heard the computer say. He then clicked on the ok button on the pop up window, which was asking if he would like to locate the file now. Slowly, an image replaced the blank page on the screen. As expected, the image shown looked like Ryo's missing twin sister. The same shape of face, same nose, lips, ears, eyes and hair. 

Identical.

Kenshin rushed towards his Shishou's bedroom door and knocked loudly. Shortly after the loud banging, his uncle opened the door in a not so pleasant mood, "What?" he asked grouchily.

"I've confirmed it. I've proven Hirameshi Ryo is really a girl, and not just any girl, but the girl indicated at the bottom of Misao's search. The girl named Kamiya Kaoru," Kenshin said in incredible speed. "I'll go tell Sano and Misao right away," he quickly added before he turned around. However, his action was paused when he felt his Shishou's firm grasp on his shoulder.

"Don't, not now. We'll tell them tomorrow. Go to sleep," he simply said before banging the door shut.

"Oro?" Kenshin automatically said, totally clueless on what's going on inside his uncle's head_. 'Why wait till tomorrow?'_ he asked himself as he made his way to his own bedroom and plopped onto his bed, his adrenaline slowly lowering back to a safe level.

[KENSHIN]

__

Ryo's a girl. I knew it from the start, but still, I continued to treat her as one of the guys. Of course, that's just the sensible thing to do isn't it? If she was indeed a tomboy or a lesbian, then I'll accept her for who she is, even if competition among girls might be tight. 

Man, that statement's just weird. 

But with whom will I be competing against if that was the case? With Ryo, or with the girls after Ryo? 

Now that things are all tying up, maybe I don't have to push my feelings aside anymore. Would it be so selfish if I tell her how I feel? How will she feel if she finds out that I've liked her a short time after we met. I hope she understands that I like her, and not him. If the rule about dating ever comes up, to hell with the rule! I will not let that rule govern my life. I love her. I really do.

This is not the best time to reflect whether to confess or not! Takeda wants her for some reason. I don't know if Shishou would want to work with her or not, but I sure hope it's the latter one. I don't want anything to happen to you Kaoru.

I swear I'll do my best to protect you.

A/n: Whew! This definitely is my longest chapter ever, 8 ½ pages, not counting the author's notes of course. 

Investigation's finally over. The two groups meet in the next chapter. About the dating rule thingie, I just invented it to be the first rule of dating, don't know if it is or even is. 

If you're wondering who Miyuki is, she's the new identity the Mission is creating for Kaoru. If you're wondering where Kajiyama Aya was first mentioned, it was in the prologue.

About the program Kenshin used, I totally don't know if that one exists. I just based it on the programs I've seen on movies and stuff.

This chapter was supposed to come out last Friday (06/14/02), but well I presume you already know, ff.net encountered problems which caused this very late update. Sorry about that. Anyway, I think you'll be glad to hear that I used the 'waiting period' wisely by writing the next chapters. The next chapter's done, just have to proofread it one last time. 

I'll post Chapter 11 once I reach a hundred reviews, so please leave a review! I only need 5 more reviews to reach a hundred! It'll be my first time to receive a hundred reviews, if ever. Make me happy! Yey! Thanks!


	12. Carpe Diem

**Yume Kazerei**: I liked that line too! ^_^

Thank you so much to**Istoria****, dizzy devil, ****selene****, ****Koneko-dono****, ****cool camzy blue****, Susan** and **Gypsy-chan**.

I actually posted chapter 10 right before I went to bed the other night, and decided to proofread the new chapter first thing in the morning. I was shocked to see I already received 100 reviews that morning, even before I had the chance to proofread chap 11, and despite the problems with submitting reviews. Thank you so much to the fantastic readers of this fic!! Special thanks go to **Susan** and **Gypsy-chan** who took the time and effort to send me a review through email when ff.net had problems. Anyway, the point of this long rambling is to apologize for the late update. Right after I finished proofreading this chapter (which wasn't easy because it was so long! (Is that good news for anyone?), I guess ff.net had problems again 'coz I could not log in!! And then I tried yesterday, and after a hundred attempts, I still could not log in to my account! _*Sigh*_

I'm really sorry. 

Enough with that. Get ready for a long chapter! Enjoy! 

****

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. This fic is entirely fictional and Japan did not have a Project Messiah nor a Mission Messiah as far as I know. I did not write the haiku below. Harold G. Henderson did the translation.

****

Other Side of the Moon

Carpe Diem

__

Chapter 11

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Summer grasses----

The afterward of strong 

Men's dreams.

---Matsuo Basho

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kaoru could not sleep well the previous night. The thought of having to live a new identity plagued her mind. Giving up on the hope that she'll be able to sleep straight and comfortably anymore, she decided to take a long hot bath and go to school earlier than usual. She arrived an hour and a half before her class started. Naturally, the classroom was empty, which was very fine for her. She wasn't in the mood to mingle and socialize because it is so early, she lacks sleep, and is very burdened by her "more personal" problems.

Kaoru zoned out for quite sometime I guess, and pretty distant too because she didn't notice that a fellow classmate has stepped inside the room. "Good morning," the newcomer said.

Kaoru came out of her own little world and stared at the voice's source. She practically gaped at the owner for a few seconds before he finally registered. "Oh, hi Kenshin! Didn't notice you come in," Ryo greeted.

"That's alright. You're early today, can't recall of any other time when you arrived before me," Kenshin said which earned a half-smile from Ryo. He continued, "So, how come you're so early today?"

"I just got up earlier than usual, and I can't go back to sleep anymore," he tried to answer as plainly as he can.

"I see, but you seem to be still half-asleep."

"I'm not a morning person," Ryo answered and flashed Kenshin a lopsided grin. Kenshin smiled at this while he continued to stare at Ryo.

Kaoru felt her cheeks heat up when she saw Kenshin smile. She also noticed Kenshin's eyes to stay on her, which caused her to immediately look the other way_. 'Why is he staring at me? He looks so cute.' _She thought guiltily while trying hard to avoid eye contact.

Kenshin's smile only grew bigger when he saw her blush and then try to hide it by breaking the eye lock. _'If only I can tell you that I know.' _He thought before adding mentally,_ 'On the other hand, I like this quite a bit. She looks so cute when she blushes. Ahem... let's rephrase that a bit, when I make her blush.' _Kenshin noted with a touch of ego.

"Sooooo…what's up Kenshin?" Ryo said as he tried to break the tension.

"Nothing---" Kenshin was about to say 'nothing really' when a better idea came to mind. "Maybe you can help me out with something," he said instead.

"Sure, if I can, why not? What is it?" Ryo answered.

"You see, there's this girl I like," he opened up.

Ouch. _'Girl? Girl he likes?'_ Ouch. "And---?" Ryo managed to release.

"Actually, change that. I just don't 'like her,' I really, really like her," Kenshin spoke again.

Ouch. _'Does this guy know how much this talk is hurting me? It's like he's stabbing me to death!'_ "Ok, then what's the problem?" Ryo tried to answer as emotionless as possible, putting her years of attending acting workshops in action.

Kenshin who in the meantime, is keenly observing Kaoru's reactions, continued rather disappointedly when he saw the confession had no effect on her at all, "Well, I don't think she knows, not even a clue. I don't know where to start. Besides, she probably does not even notice me, other than as a friend."

__

'Who could not notice you? I'm going to kick the hell out of this girl if she dares to ignore you! Wait a sec, why am I helping her anyway? She's stealing you away from me! ------ Not that you were ever mine in the first place.' Kaoru blushed as she ended her thought. Luckily Kenshin didn't notice her since their other classmates started arriving. He was busy greeting the other students. Kaoru continued her musings while Kenshin was occupied. _'I better squeeze the truth from Kenshin today since this is the last day we'll ever be together anyway! I have the right to know whom I'm going to lose to, ------ even if there was no competition in the beginning anyway. Mou! Why do I have to finish my thoughts with such statements??'_

"Sorry about that, you still with me?" Kenshin said once he finished greeting their classmates.

"Yeah," Ryo answered then continued, "May I ask who's this 'girl' we're talking about?"

"A girl?" Misao, who appeared out of nowhere, said.

"Now we're talking, who's the special girl Kenshin?" Sano, who suddenly appeared just like Misao, added.

"Just this girl, who Kenshin likes," Ryo answered, while restraining herself to answer sarcastically or very bitterly.

"Oooooh…not the best time to go date Kenshin," Misao teased.

Kaoru, who was very into the topic, raised inquisitive eyebrows and asked, "Why not?"

"'Coz my uncle just loaded me with tons of work. Remember I work for him during the summer? Well, he figured since summer's almost here, it wouldn't hurt to start helping out," Kenshin quickly filled Ryo in.

"Yeah, Kenshin won't have time to take this 'girl' out 'coz he'll be all busy and stuck with his uncle," finished Sano.

"I see. You still haven't given us her name?" Ryo asked.

"It is very unlikely of you Hirameshi-san to poke around somebody else's personal life. I've always seen you as a quiet young man who respects other people's privacy."

"Shinomori-sensei?!?!?" a startled Ryo said. _'What is up with people appearing out of thin air today?' _

"I advise you to reschedule your discussion of Himura-san's life. Class will start right now."

"Yes sir," the four answered together.

__

'Oh no. Aoshi knows. The last time he acted like this was when he discovered my crush on this really cute classmate I had. He's being all protective again! I swear, if I become an old maid, it'll all be his fault. He wants me to be just like him--- all work, and no fun.

Mou…he knows!!! He knows I like Kenshin!!! I'm so embarrassed.' Kaoru thought miserably, as the math teacher started the day's lesson.

**

The day went by fast, and as normal as any school day can be. The four friends hang out together with the occasional teasing, squabbles, and laughter. However, this normal day was about to end for most of them, if not all. 

Sometime during the afternoon, Kenshin noticed a new message on his pager. It was a numeric page that had his home phone. _'Shishou,'_ he thought. The only time Hiko pages him is if there was an emergency meeting, or if something unplanned has happened. _'Something's going to happen tonight,' _he predicted almost surely.

**

The meeting was scheduled later that afternoon. Kaoru, Saito and Tae were just waiting for the rest of the Mission to finish their reports, when the doorbell rang. Not wanting to cause suspicion, the group members present, hid for a while as Ryo answered the door.

"Good afternoon."

"Oh hi Kenshin, Misao, Sano, and Mr.."

"Just call me Hiko."

"Nice to meet you Hiko-san. What brings you here?" asked Ryo.

"We need to talk about Project Messiah," answered Hiko bluntly.

Kaoru was taken aback. Before she could deny her knowledge on the issue at hand, Hiko spoke again, "Don't deny it. I know you know very well what I'm talking about."

Just then two people appeared from kitchen. "I see you have visitors Ryo. Why don't you let them in?" Tae spoke.

"Hai," Ryo obeyed with his startled expression still written all over his face.

"State your business," Saito spoke coldly.

"Takeda proposed us a project about a week ago, and it concerns your boy." He paused for a while as he studied the look on their faces. The man with sleek black hair remained passive, while the woman has moved and was now beside the boy. Hiko continued, "The Takeda Enterprise is very much involved with a certain Project Messiah. We seek to find out what makes it so interesting."

"Who are you?" Tae barked.

"Hiko Seijuro, one who people believe to be the best private investigator around. There also happens to be a man known in the underground, which is rumored to lead a group of people, trained to be the best spies and assassins. 

No witnesses alive to tell anything about the said team. The only ones that have seen his crew are their targets. Consequently they're all dead. 

Tall, long black hair, and a cape, a man that goes by the nickname 'Agent.'" Saito continued amidst the gasps that his last statement caused, "Was thought to have quit the job because no assignments were accepted for nearly two years now. Apparently, the rumors were just rumors," Saito affirmed, his eyes never leaving the face of the 'Agent' a.k.a. Hiko. 

Just then the front door opened and revealed the other three officers. The almost always calm exterior Aoshi carried was gone the instant he saw the 'visitors.' His eyes went wildly huge while his lips shifted to form a distasteful frown.

"It's confirmed captain, it's them," Aoshi addressed his senior, although his eyes were focused on the unwanted visitors.

In the meantime, Kenshin, Sano and Misao's faces all had surprised looks on them as they saw their teacher and school nurse burst through the door. It did not take a genius to figure out why they are standing in front of Ryo's door, rather defensively and alarmed at the same time. 

They're all part of this. 

Hiko was intrigued by the surprised look on his people's faces. He decided to ignore that for a while, and mocked Aoshi's statement instead, "Hnn… You did your homework well I see." 

Megumi quickly approached Kaoru and stood defensively by her right side, while Tae stayed at Kaoru's other side. Aoshi and Soujiro stayed by the door. 

"Takeda will not have Ryo," Saito said.

"We don't want any more trouble than we already have. Please leave and forget about your assignment because it simply is not possible," Soujiro spoke calmly with a light smile still pasted on his face. 

"You've misunderstood us. We did not accept Takeda's proposal," Hiko explained

"Why did you not accept the offer? I'm sure it was a lot of money," Megumi taunted.

"We do not kill or do stuff for the fun of it. It's not for kicks. We do it for valid purposes," Sano growled back.

Hiko ignored the little bickering between the two and continued, "We simply want answers from you. We did our little research but it only made us ask more questions. Misao."

Misao nodded and started her report, "Hai. Takeda refused to impart what they want with Hirameshi Ryo, so we declined their offer. We sought to get the answers ourselves, which brought us to a file named Project Messiah. A government funded research led by a Dr. Kamiya. The discovery of the said file led to nothing for it simply placed my research to a dead end with the name Kamiya Kaoru as a souvenir. I have not found anything yet that has anything to do with Hirameshi."

"First question: Why did they not get the password from the doctor before they finished him off?" Hiko started the questioning.

"What's it in for us if we answer your questions?" Megumi snarled again.

"For the right answers, added protection for your little boy. We'll help you IF EVER," Hiko answered with a strong emphasis on the latter part of his statement.

"Hnn..why do you think we'll need your help?" Aoshi scoffed.

"We all know why. Takeda is getting closer in getting what he wants. The more people to look out for him, the safer. Besides, we might be able to help you end this endless hiding."

"How do we know we can trust you?" Tae asked cautiously.

Hiko answered arrogantly, "You'll just have to." 

Silence.

"They did," Saito finally answered. 

"Then what's stopping them?" Sano further inquired.

Saito answered once more, "The password itself is encrypted."

"And the only one who knows how to decode it is the doctor's daughter, Kaoru," Kenshin spoke the first time that night.

Nobody refuted Kenshin's reply, silently acknowledging the validity of his assumption.

Sano looked perplexed on how Kenshin figured that out, and why he didn't tell them that earlier. "Then what do they want with Ryo?!" he asked.

Sano's confusion was indirectly answered with Kenshin's request. He faced Ryo's direction and asked, "May I please talk with you for a while Ms. Kamiya? Privately."

"No! How dare you think we will allow such careless action," Aoshi instantly answered for Kaoru.

"It's all right Aoshi," Kaoru replied softly as he glanced at Saito, waiting if he'll make any objection. Luckily, he didn't.

"We can talk in my room," she said as she rose from the futon.

"Kaoru, I still think this is not a good idea," Aoshi insisted as he held her wrist.

She ignored his warning and removed his hand from his wrist and murmured, "I'll be right back." 

With that, the two left the group, leaving a dumbfounded Sano and Misao.

**

"How long have you known?"

"That you're Kamiya Kaoru or a woman?"

Kaoru certainly did not see this question coming. "You knew that I was really a woman?"

"Hai."

"Since when?"

"Since the first week we met."

"What??? How?"

"I saw you in your room… in your sleepwear," stuttered Kenshin.

"What? You hentai! Were you peeping on me?" exclaimed Kaoru, who turned bright red in an instant.

"Oro! No! I heard a loud noise, so I decided to check it out. Unfortunately I saw you sprawled on the floor, as a girl."

"I see," replied Kaoru as she skeptically tried to make sure he was telling the truth. She continued, "How come you concluded that it was me right away?"

"I didn't. However, when I saw the same bruises I saw on the girl earlier that morning, it confirmed my suspicions. Plus I did a little research and stumbled on your previous 'feminine' identities."

"How dare you not tell me until now! You mean, you actually knew I was a girl all this time? How dare you trick me!" Kaoru released her words sharply.

Kenshin replied in a cold but equally sharp manner, "Watch your words, RYO."

"I had a valid reason. What was yours?" defended Kaoru.

"I did not want to pry to whatever reason you have to cross-dress. I simply did not want you to feel uncomfortable knowing that I know you're not really a guy. I did not want to offend you, I'm not homophobic anyway."

"Nani? You thought that I preferred girls???"

"What did you expect me to think? That you dress like that for fun?" he answered.

"Anyway, it's still not fair that you knew about my secret, yet I didn't know yours until now. So much for real estate," she added bitterly.

"You know I can't just tell you that. A normal person would freak out and stay away from me as distant as possible once I tell them what my part time job is." 

"I can't believe this, this is just too much."

"I agree, though, I am hoping this is real," he said then continued in a barely audible whisper, "I want to believe this with all my heart," 

"Huh? I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"Let me protect you Kaoru."

"Nani? Umm…"

Not waiting for Kaoru's reply, Kenshin said, "We better get back. They're probably waiting for us to return."

"Hai. Ah, Kenshin, are you mad at me?"

"No." _'How can I be angry with the one I love most?'_

**

"We need to know the basics if we are going to work together, and that means we need to know what is it they want from Ms. Kamiya. Who exactly are we protecting?" Hiko spoke once more as soon as 'Ryo' and Kenshin came back.

Soujiro addressed his senior ever most politely saying, "Excuse me sir but we still do not approve of any of this." 

"They may have a point Seta. I will not deny Kaoru the chance to have an increase in security. However, the last decision still depends on her," Saito stated as his eyes drifted to the person he referred.

Kaoru bit her lower lip then finally gave a small nod towards Saito's direction. Kenshin could not help but release a soft sigh, which was not left unnoticed by his shishou. However, Hiko just raised his eyebrows and proceeded with the talk, "Well?"

"Don't push her," Aoshi snapped. "In any case, Kaoru will be transferred to a new location first thing in the morning. All have been set, it is too dangerous for her to continue as Ryo since Takeda already knows where to find her."

__

'No,' Kenshin thought. "You may not need to relocate her if we help ensure her safety sir," Kenshin quickly said. "It is no use if the only solution you have is to run continuously. As far as I know, you've been running from this for quite sometime now, and none of the identities you've come up with seem to keep those guys away for long. Don't you think it is best if you stop running and start to face those people? I'm sure the sooner we get over this problem, the sooner Miss Kaoru will achieve happiness and peace."

"You are in no authority to say such words. You've only known Kaoru for less than a year. In fact, you've never known Kaoru, just her little act as Ryo," Aoshi powerfully shot back. "So don't you dare accuse us of running away from the problem, and propose such reckless ideas and pretend as if you know what's best for her!"

A hand, gently placed over his own, soothed his abrupt temper outburst. He looked at the owner of the hand and saw her weak smile. "You don't have to do this Kaoru," Aoshi softly whispered.

"But I want to," she quietly said. After taking a deep breath, Kaoru started, "I guess we need to start from the beginning." 

Pause.

"Almost 16 years ago, my father led a project for the government. He was supposed to design an invulnerable shield to protect Japan. He worked on it for years, and when he finally thought he got it, he did repetitions to verify his findings. That's when he noticed the error he has made. The project he made was not a shield but a weapon, when used to its full potential, may be powerful enough to wipe out the whole planet." Kaoru paused and looked around her listeners. All were listening intently even the members of Mission Messiah. She continued, "My father and the government both agreed that it is best to get rid of Project Messiah to avoid power-craving people from using the said weapon to their advantage. They got rid of everything except for the filed papers which were stolen the night before they were to burn it. My father thought that whoever stole the project file has forgotten or gave up on it since nothing has happened since the robbery. You see, the file folder of Messiah is just a bunch of numbers, which an ordinary person will never figure out what it means. Three years later, I got home and saw my parents lying on the floor, my mother dead while my father was with his last breaths." 

"It follows that they actually figured out that the file is encoded, so they went after your father to get the decoder," Misao inferred after a long pause from the group.

"That's right Misao. They killed my parents the moment Daddy told them the decoding matrix." _'They probably threatened to kill mom if he didn't, that's why she was already dead when Saito-san and I arrived.'_ Kaoru mentally added sadly.

"I will guess that the message formed using your dad's decoding matrix was not the password they were looking for," thought Kenshin aloud. 

"Yes. You're right again. The message formed is KAMIYA KAORU."

"Is it another cryptogram? Are they looking for another decoding matrix or something like that?" Sano asked confused. _'Now I wish I listened to the stupid math class more attentively.'_

"It's not a decoded message. It simply means I have the password, or that I know it," Kaoru answered.

"Wait a second, why not punch a bunch of characters or something to break the code? Why do they have to chase after Ryo, err… I mean Kaoru, if it has given them so much trouble?" Misao wondered.

"Because the program will automatically remove itself from the main computer and launch itself to cyberspace after three consecutive failed trials. And, I am sure Takeda will not like the idea that someone will find the project and steal his plan to rule the world," she explained.

"Why don't they just cut the Internet connection from the PC to end their problem?" Sano said jokingly. 

"The file itself is run by a program which my father created solely for Project Messiah. The program creates some kind of a 24/7 Internet connection through satellite transmissions so cutting off the line will not do."

"Ok, how about deleting the file whenever you hit 2 incorrect passwords then reinstalling it again?"

"There was no delete option created in the program. Either keep it or it will launch itself into cyberspace."

"Why would your father create something like that?"

"I don't know. Maybe he just got prepared in case something like this happens."

A/n: Ok..sorry if it sounded nerdy discussing about matrices and computers..hihi. I just wanted to sound realistic and logical. I didn't want this to be super sci-fi so I can't have Kaoru be zapped and transform into the key or something for access. So there, mathematical equations to the rescue. About the computer program launching itself, if it didn't follow or sounded weird, sorry bout that. I just can't think another probable reason why they didn't do Misao and Sano's questions.

If the program sounded surreal or super high tech, remember this is just a fic, so bear with me. I am not an expert in programming either so ignore if it didn't make much sense. About the program Kenshin used last chapter to see what the young Kaoru will look in the future, according to Gypsy-chan, such a program does exist in the real world! 

Ok review time!! =D Thanks


	13. The End of Summer

Hello! And yes, I am still alive. I am really sorry for the super late update. I am feeling terribly lazy lately. Anyway, here it is! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. This fic is entirely fictional and Japan did not have a Project Messiah nor a Mission Messiah as far as I know. 

****

Other Side of the Moon

The End of Summer

__

Chapter 12

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It is not in the star to hold our destiny but in ourselves.

---William Shakespeare

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

__

You are probably wondering what happened after that night, right? Well, thankfully (I guess) Hiko-san and the rest of his group agreed to help us. So now, 4 more people are working on the mission and protecting me as well. Actually, I don't really know if I should be thankful for that. It also means that four more people will be risking their lives just because of one person, which happens to be me.

Pushing that in a corner and letting out my selfish side for a minute, I am practically jumping for joy because the most important people in my life knows who I really am and have accepted me, the real me!! That's what's important, right? Even if I still can't act, dress, and speak as a girl, I'm happy because they know. 

Right? 

Mou, who am I kidding. I'm not satisfied with the current situation. It is really hard to flirt with Kenshin while acting all Ryo.

Ok, wait a minute. Did I just say that? I am not that kind of girl!!! And Kenshin's not the type of guy either. What I meant was….mou! Frustrating. Really.

Anyway, Kenshin's acting all sweet lately, not that it's un-kenshin-like, but it's "sweet-sweet." After our so-called "unexpected meeting," he started to treat me a little nicer than usual, if that's even possible given that it's Kenshin were talking about here. By nicer, I meant, he started acting all the more "gentlemanly" around me. Well that is of course when no one else is there or notices, if not unwanted rumors would have spread in school immediately. The last thing I need in my life now is a scandal. 

And oh! How can I forget the cute little act he did tonight! Would you believe he actually knocked at my apartment's door at nine in the evening just to hand me a bouquet of flowers and say goodnight? Well..actually it's more of…

I heard the doorbell ring so I scurried downstairs and asked who the late night visitor was. I heard the stranger say 'Kenshin' so I immediately opened the door, and revealed a redhead who looked like he just rolled out of bed. His hair was tied messily, just tied for the sake of saying it's tied. He was wearing loose gray cotton pants, which may be his pajamas for all I know, and a pink (?) shirt. To make his appearance less "sleepwear-ish" he wore a black jacket over it.

Not that I'm complaining about his appearance tonight, he looked absolutely adorable, especially when he wore those clothes with his sheepish smile. "I hope I'm not disturbing you," I recall him say. Of course, I politely said no and asked him what's up. 

Know what he said?????????

*Kaoru twirls across the room before continuing with her entry. *

__

He said that he just came by to say goodnight. He said his self wouldn't let him sleep until he said that to me. He added, that he decided to stop by at the flower shop too, and bought me the bouquet of peach roses secured by a beautiful white bow, that he held in his right hand. 

Awww…how sweet. 

*Kaoru swoons on her chair. *

__

And then he left after that. Mou. He should have said more or stayed longer for Soujiro's crazy teasing to be worth it. 

As expected, once Kenshin drove away, Soujiro immediately called and the teasing ensued. He was watching the whole time, you know? So what can I do? Just blush and squeal at the little spy. *Sigh* But Kenshin was really sweet tonight, and really kawaii too.

Hmm..wonder what happened to the girl he was sharing about the last time? Maybe he forgot about her once he saw my true irresistible smile!!! Geez…how cheesy. I must be hungry or something for coming up with these stuff. That's not it, I'm sleepy. The tournament's tomorrow so I better rest now. 

Goodnight. 

With that, Kaoru replaced the cap on the pen, closed the diary and tucked it inside the table's drawer.

**

"May we request the participants of the Intermediate Division to please proceed to your respected places. The event is expected to start in 15 minutes," the speaker boomed.

It was the final event of the inter-school competition which Erizawa High's Archery Team participated in. Ryo will be one of the four participants left to compete in the announced game. The winner for this game will be proclaimed as the champion for the year. Misao also competed earlier, however she lost in a very tight match with a competitor from a nearby high school. 

Kenshin, Sano, Misao and the Mission Messiah decided to be on constant alert, just in case. The Takeda Enterprise knows their target and may take advantage of the situation. Since it is a tournament, outsiders are very welcome.

Saito acting as Ryo's father came into high advantage for he was offered one of the front row seats as a parent of one of the finalists. Aoshi too had the privilege to stay near the actual grounds since he is the head of Erizawa High's Archery Team. While as for Kenshin, he stayed in the bleachers blending with his fellow schoolmates. Misao was with Kenshin, since she isn't in the competition anymore. Tae and Soujiro were somewhere in the crowd too, pretending to be innocent spectators, while regularly looking around the area. 

Now, how about Megumi and Sano? They were inside the van. The van contains the monitors for the video cams installed around the perimeter and certain areas which Ryo is expected to stay. Originally it should have been Megumi and Tae in charge with the cameras, but as a punishment for Sano, he was forbidden to stay in the field and was forced to work inside the van instead.

****

Inside the van…

"Kaoru's not going to change in front of the camera right?" asked Sano, after he saw the monitor of the camera installed in the dressing room.

"Yeah, what's your point?" an irritated Megumi answered.

"Is there going to be any cameras inside the women's dressing room?" asked Sano.

"You hentai!" screamed Megumi.

"Awww…Kitsune, jealous?" Sano teased.

"You wish!" shot back Megumi.

"Come on Kitsune, no use denying it. Didn't know you cared," he continued.

"My, and why should I care? I just feel sorry for the girls who will be unfortunate enough to be taken advantage by you. And call me Officer Takani not Kitsune!"

"Geez..no need to be so uptight, ma'am," he answered.

"If it wasn't for your stupid mistake, I would have been working with Tae right now." 

****

*Flashback --- Why Sano got punished

Mission Messiah and it's 'honorary' members agreed to meet at the competition grounds at four in the morning, to check safety and install security equipment. All of them arrived in time, except for Sano. It was almost five in the morning and still no sign of Sano. Some members of the Mission were already panicking because Sano was the one assigned with the installation of the cameras, hence all the cameras were with him. And to make things worse, the competition administrators were expected to arrive at six in the morning. They have planned to leave the site at least half an hour before the administrators arrive. 

"I'm here!" chirped Sano, arriving a few seconds past five.

"Where the hell have you been Sagara?" exclaimed Saito. "We'll discuss that later, for now, hurry up and install the cameras." the older man instructed.

Sano just nodded, walked away wit his backpack and started doing his work.

"See I told you, I'm an expert in these things, assigning me to do this job simply meant a guaranteed perfect performance. You just wasted your time worrying!" Sano said after he finished installing all the cameras in barely twenty minutes. He laughed maniacally as a sign of pride for a "job well done." But then…

****

*Poof! A cloud of black smoke emanated from the installed wires. 

"Perfect performance my butt Sano," Misao said after recovering from the smoke.

"You better fix this before the officials arrive, Sagara," Hiko said sharply.

Sano nodded and quickly fixed the errors in the rushed cameras.

****

*End of Flashback

"And they cancelled my field assignment for that? They knew how much I was looking forward to watching it live. The camera malfunction could have happened to anyone," Sano defended.

"Stupid cocky teenage boy," Megumi said.

**

The game soon started. It was a very tight match. All the finalists were getting the highest possible marks. After a long series of tiebreakers, the match finally finished with the guy that eliminated Misao as the champion, while Ryo finished at second. Ryo's friends and schoolmates congratulated him, and after the awarding ceremony was over he proceeded to the changing room. Ryo was not allowed to go anywhere unaccompanied in such a public place, which's why Aoshi went with him. Since Aoshi is the team's head, nobody questioned this action. Inside the dressing room is one of the video cams Sanosuke installed earlier, however it only covers the open area. It does not cover the enclosed area, where one actually changes clothes. 

****

Flashback*

"It is necessary that we leave no spot uncovered!" Megumi argued, "And of course, there's the fact that it is the men's changing room. OHOHOHOHO…" she added with mischievous eyes and fox ears.

"Megumi! But I will be changing too, and Sano's with you in the van!" exclaimed Kaoru.

"That's enough Officer. I will accompany Kaoru inside. I will be looking out while she's changing. The video cam that is already installed will suffice," Aoshi commanded.

****

End*

When the two entered the room, the other participants were almost done and were getting ready to go. Ryo hopped inside an enclosed cubicle and pulled the curtain shut. Aoshi patiently waited just in front of Ryo's drawn curtain and constantly glanced around the room. 

After fifteen minutes, all the other occupants of the room already went out, but Kaoru was still inside.

"I'll be ready in a minute," she said.

"Ok," answered Aoshi before a young girl cracked open the door and stuck her head inside.

"Eto, excuse me," the girl said.

"May I help you?" Aoshi started then quickly assumed, "I think you may be in the wrong area Miss. This is the men's changing area."

"My brother sent me here to get his umbrella. He thought he left it here," the girl answered.

"This?" Aoshi said as he walked towards the umbrella leaning on the wall. 

The girl nodded happily and extended her hand as Aoshi handed the umbrella over.

"Thank you very much!" she said before she flashed an evil smile.

Aoshi caught the feral grin, but before he could do anything, he collapsed on the floor, unconscious.

Kaoru heard a thud so she decided to check, "Shinomori-sensei, you al---" She was unable to finish the sentence when she decided to peek through the curtain and saw Aoshi lying motionless on the ground at the feet of a girl of no more than ten. 

"I don't know what happened," the girl innocently acted. 

Kaoru quickly stepped out of the cubicle and approached the two, but before she reached them, she felt a gun at the back of her neck. She froze, and heard a trigger pulled. She instantly collapsed and was caught by the person behind her.

***

In the meantime, somewhere at the parking lot, Sano and Megumi's fight ensued, not noticing the screen of the video cam in the changing room be replaced by a still image a minute ago. Their hot interaction was only interrupted when they received a question from the captain.

"Is everything alright Officer Takani? They're not out yet," they heard him say.

Megumi and Sano's bickering abruptly stopped, hastily looked at the monitor and saw the still picture on screen.

"Fuck!" Sano said. 

"What happened?" Saito said after hearing Sano curse.

"Sir! The reception has been interfered! The video cam inside the changing area is not working!" reported the female officer.

"Shit!" Saito said after hearing the news, he threw his cigarette before commanding through his ear piece, "Seta, Himura, go to the dressing room with me immediately! Makimachi and Officer Tae, look around for anything suspicious."

"Hai!" replied the whole group simultaneously.

***

The young man roughly grabbed Kaoru's watch and threw it to the ground, then he swung Kaoru onto his shoulder before jumping through the window, which he used to come in. The little girl immediately followed the man and left Aoshi on the ground.

Saito, Kenshin and Soujiro arrived at the location too late. Soujiro rushed to Aoshi after seeing him motionless on the ground. Kenshin quickly scanned the room and when he found no sign of Kaoru, he finally approached the open window, stared outside and looked for any signs of movement. 

There was none. 

"They have her," Saito calmly informed the others who were not present in the room. He knelt down to pick up Kaoru's watch while he went on with the terrible news. "They also got rid of the tracking devise."

"Are you just going to give up? Damn you!" shouted an amber-eyed Kenshin as he motioned to jump out the window and continue to search for Kaoru.

"Go if you want but I wouldn't do that if I were you. You will never find them here. We are not fit to find her right now. It is best for us to go back and think things through. I definitely am not giving up on the mission I spent so much time on."

Kenshin controlled his impulse, and blankly stared out the window while the wind blew carelessly at the curtains. 

A/n: And this is where the fic, Other Side of the Moon, ends. Thank you so much for all those nice people, who read, supported and reviewed this fic. I had a fun time writing this, I'll surely miss your reviews and emails.

I'm just kidding.

Umm… did I give a heart attack to anyone? 

Don't know if this chapter was all right or it actually sucked. *sighs* About Kaoru being OOC during the diary entry section..teehee..sorry can't resist, too much Angelic Layer and Gravitation for me. Twirling and wiggling (Icchan-san!) seem to be a favorite in those shows, I think it's so cute and funny. 

Any vague or confusing matters (like… "What happened to Aoshi? He just collapsed on the floor for no obvious reason.") will probably be explained and answered in the next chapter.

Anyhoot, as usual, reviews really encourage and inspire me, so please leave me note. Thanks!


	14. The Flower Wreath

Heyheyhey! Hello again! A faster update this time! (Compared to the last one)

I've never had so many people call me **mean** all at the same time! Some even called me cruel! LOL… But..despite almost all of you saying that I'm mean (I swear I'm not, I'm actually a very nice person, I just happen to be _ingenious_ at that time…hehehe) I want to thank you all for the nice comments that followed the "You're so mean!" part. Thank you also for making me laugh and giggle like crazy every time I read and remember the reviews (My parents think I'm so weird, suddenly bursting into giggles. The reactions are so funny…I honestly didn't think anyone would fall for it. And for all of you who got scared to death, or whose heart stopped for a second or two, I'm really sorry about that. Teehee.. 

Thank you so much to all those nice people who reviewed. I got 25 reviews last chapter!! Wow, that's a record for me! (The joke certainly was an effective way to make people review… not that I'll ever use it again…promise! *tries to look innocent* ) Special thanks goes to tearlesereph who was up till 5am reading the entire fic.

To those who thought Aoshi was OOC last chapter, and should have been more cautious…well..if he had, then Kaoru would have never been kidnapped, neh? And as Susan said, this fic would have been uninteresting if that didn't happen. It'll just be painfully dragging and plain.

One more thing…Kenshin using a katana has been introduced in a previous chapter, right? So don't be surprised if he actually uses it in this or the following chapter. Some of the sword-wielding RK characters may use them too, even if this is set in modern times. It's just not RK without them, and as I've pointed before, "sword technique schools" still exist today. But don't worry, guns will also be used at the same time.

Anyway….here it is! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. This fic is entirely fictional and Japan did not have a Project Messiah nor a Mission Messiah as far as I know. 

****

Other Side of the Moon

The Flower Wreath

__

Chapter 13

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

__

I think that there must be a tiny star out there that is my star…

and, as I am alone here on earth among millions of people, 

that tiny star is out there among millions and millions of stars!

---Charlie Brown (May 17, 1958 United Feature Syndicate, Inc.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You're awake." Kaoru heard as she slowly opened her eyes, which were still blurry and slowly adjusting to the bright light.

"You've been out all afternoon I think," the voice continued.

"Who are you? Where am I?" she consecutively asked as she struggled to focus her eyes.

"Ah, yes. I haven't introduced myself, forgive my rudeness. My name's Kanryu Takeda. I believe your name's Miss Kaoru Kamiya, am I right?"

"Takeda.." she murmured. _'Damn. They got me.' _Kaoru remained quiet.

"Not the talkative one are we? Fine by me, the last thing I need is a loud woman in my premises," he said to no one in particular.

"Sir, the meeting is about to start," a man standing by the door informed.

"Well then, I'm afraid I'll have to leave you for a while Miss Kamiya, but don't worry, I'll be back as soon as I can. In the meantime, he will keep you company," Kanryu bid as he walked out the door. Mere seconds later, a young man stepped inside the room. 

Kaoru immediately recognized the man and said, "You're the one that brought me here." 

The man remained expressionless, as he leaned at the door's frame. 

"I thought you were going to kill me. You had a gun at my neck didn't you?" she continued.

Silence. 

Kaoru was beginning to think that he isn't going to talk to her at all_. 'Perhaps, he couldn't understand a word I'm saying,'_ she thought as her eyes wandered upwards from the man's newly polished shoes, neatly pressed pants, navy blue dress shirt, fairly white skin, tight flat lips, steel blue eyes, to his light colored hair. Her careful observation ceased when she heard him answer ----

"It was only loaded with a tranquilizer," he answered with an accent.

"Figures," she answered sarcastically, then talked some more. "What happened to the little girl, did you hurt her too?"

"Little girl?" the guy snorted. "You must mean Marguerite," he continued shortly. "Why would I hurt her? We work for the same people. And don't call her little girl, she's not as young as you think."

Not sure of what to say next, she chose to remain silent and studied her 'company' instead.

__

'The accent he had… He certainly is not Japanese,' she concluded. 

"The door to your right is the bathroom, TV's right in front of you, it even has digital cable," he explained gravely as he folded his arms across his chest and deliberately closed his eyes. He paused to let Kaoru speak, but when he heard nothing he continued the 'orientation.' "There's a game console below the TV. Marguerite thought you might get bored so she let you borrow the unit for a while. But I doubt if she can stay away from it too long, she's a video game addict, so she'll probably knock on your door later and play with it for a while," he talked as if this was an overnight stay of some sort.

"Why are you saying all these things to me?" asked a perplexed Kaoru.

"I thought it would be nice if you got settled comfortably in your new room,"' he said in a surprisingly cordial tone. And as if reading Kaoru's mind perfectly, his tone abruptly changed back to its usual hostility, "There's no way you can escape Miss Kamiya so don't even think about it. There's someone guarding your window and door--- the only means of access in this room. We chose not to give you a computer nor a telephone line, for obvious reasons."

Not letting herself feel fear from the man in front of her she haughtily said, "Of course," and rolled her eyes.

"Now…" the man said as he lifted his eyelids lazily, turned his head towards Kaoru's direction, and gazed intently at her eyes. "If you'll let me finish my speech."

Kaoru stiffened a bit, and looked the opposite direction.

His lips shifted to a twisted smile for the first time, as he let his eyelids fall once more, and went on, "The armoire on the left hand side is full of clothes, feel free to use any of them." 

"What's your name?" she bluntly asked.

The guy grimaced languidly before he released his name, "Vincent."

Silence.

"I'll go tell the cook you are awake, they'll bring your food shortly," Vincent said before stepping out of the room and shutting the door behind him.

"Vincent," she murmured his name. _'His eyes, when he looked at me…they were beautiful,'_ she thought.

__

'Baka Kaoru. What the hell am I thinking?' she shook her head, desperately trying to free her mind from such thoughts. She approached the bedroom door, and tried to open it with all she had. When the door didn't bulge at all, she decided to check out the window. She pulled the curtain to the side and saw that the windows were barred with horizontal metal bars--- every five inches, top to bottom. 

__

*Sigh* 'They really took precautions,' she thought miserably, then took a peek at what's present below her window. "Guards," she whispered. Standing right below her window were two guards, heavily armed and on high alert. 

Accepting her state at the moment, she slowly made her way to the bed, sat down slowly and tried to think things through. 

__

'Alright, I have to recall what happened first,' her brainstorming started. _'This morning I…' _with the sudden rush of events, she immediately halted her reflection and broke into worry instead, _'Oh no….'_

"Aoshi," she said as her face paled.

**

"How's he doing?" 

"He still has a moderately high fever, but he's not in a critical condition anymore," the doctor answered.

"I see. Is he awake?" Saito inquired.

"No sir. The only time he woke up was when he vomited, rather severely if I may add," reported the specialist.

"Have you found out what happened to him?" he asked.

"He seems to be suffering by blood poisoning. He was poisoned with ricin."

"Ricin?" the captain asked skeptically.

"Yes, it is a deadly poison, a derivative of the castor-plant. Luckily, the antidote for the said poison was discovered a few years back. Not a lot of people know how to formulate it, fortunately one of our doctors knows. If not, he would have been dead in four days," explained the doctor.

"How did he get poisoned? Do you know?" 

"Yes. We found a miniscule platinum-iridium pellet in his left leg. It is a pellet much smaller than a pin's head. According to the lab tests done, the said pellet contained the poison."

"I see. Was this micro pellet shot by a certain type of gun?" Saito asked. 

"I do not know sir. It is my first time to see one. Maybe we can just ask Shinomori-san to answer that when he wakes up. He is expected to wake up sometime this week."

**

"Knock, Knock! Are you still awake Kamiya-san?"

Kaoru abruptly sat up, after hearing the loud banging at the door and the high-pitched voice that came with it. She had been staring at the ceiling intently right after she finished eating her dinner--- the tray that was brought by one of the house's servants. She ate the meal without hesitation. Of course, they wouldn't dare cause her harm, not until they got what they wanted that is.

__

'The door is locked from outside, why the hell is this person knocking?' Kaoru thought not so politely, given that she isn't in a good mood since the kidnapping that morning. Not that anyone would blame her.

"What do you want?" she answered sharply.

Kaoru heard the door being unlocked and not long after, a girl gleefully appeared at the door, and merrily said, "I just wanted to play with you for a little while! It's not that late, it's only half past nine." 

__

'I'm actually at my kidnapper's place right? Aren't I supposed to be all tied and gagged up? Then why am I here in a fully furnished bedroom, being fed and dressed like a princess and to top it all, one of my 'captors' is knocking at my door pleading to play a video game with me? I haven't been kidnapped before, but common sense tells me, this is not the conventional way,' she thought as she watched the girl in question hook up the game console and load the CD.

"By the way my name's Marguerite," she cheerfully introduced and extended her right hand, as she was waiting for the game's main menu to appear on the screen.

Kaoru looked suspiciously at the girl and kept her hands to herself.

"It is rude not to accept a lady's extended hand," she said.

__

'Why is my kidnapper acting all friendly? And---teaching me how a lady should act???' "Well, excuse my manners. I thought taking someone and keeping them locked up against their will was a form of rudeness too," she replied crudely.

"Ouch… You shouldn't act so smart in front of your captors you know? You may never know what we could do to you," the girl replied almost too sweetly.

"You won't touch me until you get what you want," she replied daringly.

"Ahh… right you are. Well then, I'm getting impatient now, let's play!" exclaimed the girl and threw Kaoru one of the controllers, as if the recent interaction never happened.

Kaoru, who still cannot understand what was happening, decided to play along until she finds out what this is all about_. 'Strange. I'll just play along for a while and see how it goes.'_

"I can't believe I died again!" whined the girl in her native tongue. 

Kaoru, who was watching the girl play an RPG, stared blankly at the girl's reaction and wondered what the girl could have just said.

"Sorry, 'bout that, didn't mean to left you out. I just got so frustrated, I didn't realize I was talking in German," she apologized.

__

'Okaaay…since were getting all comfy here, as that guy said, guess it won't hurt to actually talk to her and maybe get some information,' Kaoru decided.

" Ah, so you're from Germany, huh?" started Kaoru.

"Yup! Bet you can't tell when I speak huh? My teacher said that I am very fluent in Japanese. I learned it when I was nine," Marguerite beamed. "Bet you can't tell how old I am too?" she continued.

"Umm... I thought you were about ten when I first saw you," guessed Kaoru.

"Wrong," she said dully before saying the correct answer with a huge grin. "I'm turning 16 next month!" 

"Nani?" said Kaoru in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"That's such an exaggerated reaction Kamiya-san!!!!" she screeched.

Kaoru who was still in shock lowly muttered, "That guy wasn't kidding when he said you weren't as young as I thought."

"Guy?" she repeated. "You mean Vincent? You've met him? He's actually been to your room? Tall, blond, blue eyes? That guy?" she asked in one breath.

"Yeah, that's him," she replied shortly. 'What's up with all the questions?'

"What do you think of him? Don't you think he's totally cool?" the girl continued ignoring Kaoru's questions.

"Wha---?" Kaoru asked in complete disarray with what's going on.

"Stop it Marguerite, it's late," the girls heard someone say. Apparently someone had stepped inside the room and was left unnoticed by the two involved teenagers.

"You never let me have fun, Johann," she said while giving a pout.

"You're practically tormenting Kamiya-san," he added with no sympathy for the pouting figure.

__

'Now who's this guy?' Kaoru wondered. "Excuse me, but who are you?" she asked not bothering to consider being polite. These were her kidnappers anyway. 

The man referred as Johann saw Kaoru's still confused look, and voluntarily cleaned things up, "Hello there," he greeted. "I hope I didn't intrude your privacy Kamiya-san, my name's Johann," he said politely. "I couldn't help but hear what you were talking about a few seconds before I let my presence known. Just ignore Marguerite's questions about Vincent. She can get carried away sometimes and not notice that she's going beyond the line," he said while casting a knowing look at the hyper active girl.

"You sound so old, O – NEE - CHAN!" the girl answered in return with much emphasis.

__

'That's her brother?' Kaoru thought, and that was when it hit her that two actually shared the same hair color, features, and both spoke with no accent at all.

"Shut up shorty, just go to your room already. It's way past your bed time," he jeered with a smirk posted across his face.

"What did you just call me??????? And since when did I ever have this so called bed time?" she erupted.

"What's all the commotion? I could hear you from downstairs," they heard one of the passerby ask.

__

'Sheesh…my so called room a.k.a. unconventional dungeon, is so exposed and open, people are practically walking in and out like we've known each other for a long time,' thought Kaoru sarcastically.

"Johann's bullying me again Vincent!" whined the girl to the newcomer as she stomped her right foot for emphasis.

"Go to sleep Marguerite," the boy replied emotionlessly, which earned a moan from the reprimanded girl. "Go and make sure she complies Johann, I want some peace and quiet here," he added.

The other man nodded in reply and escorted the girl out of the room, from the hallway Kaoru could still hear the girl whine, "Vincent's such a meanie!" 

__

'I can't believe she's turning 16. And I can't believe these are my kidnappers,' she thought as she mentally shook her head. That was when she noticed that the guy named Vincent was still inside the room.

"Do you need something?" she asked flatly.

"Nothing, just watching you think. You looked so deep in thought," he said. "I told you she was going to come tonight."

"Ah, and she did," she answered not feeling too comfortable under the gaze of the tall blond.

"Well then, I'll let you rest now Miss Kamiya," he said as he turned his back to her.

"Wait!" she said.

"What?" he answered while still looking straight ahead.

"How long are you going to keep me here? How come you are not making any moves to take the password yet?"

"We only do the things we are commanded. They haven't told us anything yet besides the fact that we treat you well. That's all we're doing," he replied.

"Then why are you being all friendly around me?" she asked before he could make another step forward.

"I can see Marguerite has grown fond of you, maybe because you're the only other teenage girl in the house. Johann's always nice and polite. And me? I didn't know I was being friendly at all. Most people find me cold, but---" He made a slight turn to his left allowing him to see her through the corner of his eye before he finished his sentence, "I'm glad you think otherwise." 

She felt her cheeks lightly flush but immediately covered it up by rebuking, "Don't give my question meanings which weren't there in the first place." 

That earned another smirk from the young man who was about to lock her door. "But don't mistake our friendliness as a weakness, we are completely different people when we're at work," he said before he finally shut the door close.

**

"What happened?" Misao started the questioning. Sano and Kenshin were at the hospital too. They came as soon as they found out that Aoshi had gained consciousness.

"As I was waiting for Kaoru, a little girl came and asked for the umbrella that her brother left. After I handed the umbrella, she flashed this wicked smile and it was then that I felt a sudden sting in my left leg," he bitterly explained, as guilt and self-directed anger built up inside him again. It was his second time to narrate the incident that day, the first time with the members of the Mission.

"What, no gun?" inquired Sano.

"No, the only object near or aimed at my leg was the umbrella I told you about," he answered. 

"I heard about an umbrella used for assassinations during the cold war," Kenshin shared.

"Yes, that came to my mind too," Aoshi agreed. 

"Umbrella? War? What the heck are you talking about?" a lost Sano asked.

"I read a book years ago about an unsolved crime that happened in the cold war. The crime was about the murder of a Bulgarian defector who was broadcasting propaganda against the time's communist Bulgarian government. According to the article, the man was walking at his work's parking lot when he felt a sharp sting on his right thigh. He turned and saw a stranger holding a closed umbrella and heard him mutter an apology. He seemed fine for the next 10 hours, but after that he started to experience high fever, and nausea. He died four days after that. A similar event happened in France around the same time, and with another Bulgarian defector as well," explained Kenshin.

"But I haven't heard anyone use that method for a long time, lest here in Japan," pondered Aoshi.

"Say, did this 'girl' look like Japanese?" Kenshin asked.

"Not particularly. She had light brown hair and emerald eyes, but her Japanese is perfect though, no accent," he recalled.

"Are you saying that Kanryu may have hired a foreign group to do the job?" an overwhelmed Misao asked.

"It is possible. If not, we should have heard news about it already," Kenshin replied.

"Damn..we shouldn't have underestimated the enemy," Sano said.

"No room for regrets," they heard someone say as the room's door swung open. "The women finally tracked down who made the potentially fatal pellet. They have their location too. I need someone to go talk to them and find out whom Takeda is doing business with, and where they are keeping Kaoru. Any volunteers?" Saito asked.

"I'll go," Kenshin willingly volunteered.

"We'll go too," answered his two classmates instantly.

"Fine, Officer Seta will go with you three. Makimachi and Sagara will act as back ups. Himura and Seta will be the only ones to go inside, understand?" instructed the captain.

"Isn't that dangerous? Only the two of them?" questioned the young girl.

"I have confidence in my people, I don't know if you have the same confidence in your colleagues. In any case, that's why there are back ups. The less people, the quicker the mission will be," he answered.

"Fine by me. What's the address?" Kenshin asked fervidly.

. 

A/n: Ok no more farewells here. Teehee..real notes right away.

Ok, the new hired hitmen (and woman) are introduced. I'm sure you quite caught that they are foreigners, specifically German. Wait! I don't have anything against German people at all! (Ei! The 'kidnappers' as revealed in this chapter turned out to be pretty cool, weren't they?) It's just that…*ahem long explanation coming up* 

I'm currently watching the series Gravitation while writing this chapter, sooo…it kinda influenced my choices a little bit. Remember the guy named Vincent? I kinda patterned him to Yuki Eiri, blond, cool, etc. except for his eyes. It's kinda yellowish right? Don't want to have two pairs of amber eyes in my fic. Anyway, Yuki certainly don't look like Japanese, so in order to make quick decisions I asked my Dad to answer from the top of his head the first blue eyed, tall, blond people (By first I mean, the 'original' ones before they immigrated to other countries). He quickly answered Germans, Celtics, some French and English. I just picked his first answer. 

Why foreigners you may ask? Because, I figured if it were Japanese, the police (meaning Mission Messiah) should have heard rumors or have received reports about it already (if so, they should have prevented Kaoru's kidnapping) since it is much easier to monitor local activities. International activities will be harder to monitor and keep track since it is outside the power and control of the Japanese government. Why didn't I use RK characters as the villains? Because I made Soujiro one of the good guys. If I were to pick the villains, it would have been Shishio and the Juppongatana. However, it is just unfair and weird if Soujiro's at the other side of the line. So I decided to make up my own set of villains. 

I'm trying to give my "villains" character and not just there for the sake of having bad guys to kick butt, so that explains the pretty extensive part of this chapter.

About the fatal umbrella…(I actually did some research)

I actually read it in a book. I was asking my dad about cool gadgets and stuff and he showed me the said unsolved case. There actually was an umbrella used for assassinations during the cold war. Kenshin's explanations with the defectors and stuff were all real life events. Ricin's the real poison used in the mentioned umbrella. When the book was published, there was no antidote discovered yet for Ricin (the book is O-L-D). However, I refuse to kill Aoshi or any of my main character (I actually thought about it, but I can't seem to kill off anyone), so I invented the antidote part. 

Reference: Wallace, Irving, and David Wallechinsky. The People's Almanac # 3. NY: Bantam Books, 1981. 

I'm currently writing the next chapter, and it will contain action. Advise on how to improve, or simply how to write action sequences would be great. This'll be my first time to write one, so please be gentle. Also, tell me if you are all right with the pace I'm on right now. Not update wise (feels guilty) but I mean story wise, is the fic dragging or just on the right tempo? 

I'm super sorry for the outrageously long author's notes (Ey, it was a long chapter after all, the longest so far). Please leave me a review! Thanks!


	15. Eve Angel

I am alive!! Sumimasen minna-san for the super (100x) late update. First of all, I would like to thank my wonderful readers for all the great reviews you left. 

**Tenshineko: Umm…do you still remember your questions? What you said was so true, I wonder what's going on Vincent's mind anyway ^_^**

**Gypsy-chan: Does Marguerite sound like Misao? Marguerite's character just popped out of nowhere; don't know where she came from. About my dad, umm..he's not that cool, lol. I mean he's pretty cool in some way (my parents can actually know the difference between anime and cartoons like the flintstones) but he has no idea that my questions were for a fic. He just thinks its pretty normal for me to ask random questions. **

**Hana**** Himura: Glad to know you like the fluff.**

**Aya: Did I give the impression that I was Portuguese or at least can understand it? Hihi, I'm sorry but I could not speak a single Portuguese word ^_^ But do not worry! I read your review and understood it thanks to AltaVista's Babelfish. And so, thanks for the review, and you're welcome to leave a review in any language you prefer.**

Thanks to **Susan, J. Liha, Leigh, Colleen, cherrybubbles, selene, Chibigreen Tanuki (thanks for the interesting fact!), ****Ano**** Onna Oji, Blaque and Wight, Lady Belegwen Lightningblade, dizzy Devil, nemo, bek, and "****…" .**

Super special thanks goes to **Tan Kimiko for proofreading this chapter. **

Enough with the talk, I hope you like this chapter. 

By the way, this chapter will be rated R for its violence and language. There are a few swearing/cussing in the chapter, if this offends you, then I suggest that you not read it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. This fic is entirely fictional and Japan did not have a Project Messiah or a Mission Messiah as far as I know. Weapons described in the chapter are based on my research on the net and therefore I am not sure if they are 100% correct. This is just a work of fiction so bare with me =D 

Other Side of the Moon

Eve Angel

Chapter 14 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Only when the sky is blue and shining,

Do people's hearts shine as well.

-Groove Adventure Rave

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Everything's working fine here," Misao confirmed.

"Here as well," Soujiro answered.

"We're going in," said Kenshin.

The young men soundlessly walked towards the end of a dark narrow alley, which had the back door to an old rusty factory building. The back door they were looking for had a huge man standing in front of it obviously playing as gatekeeper. The two men confidently stepped into the light and revealed themselves to the watchman. 

"What's your business here?" he growled at them.

"We're here to see Vladimir Markov," answered Soujiro amiably.

"Sir Markov, eh? And what's your business with him?"

"None of your business," Kenshin replied impatiently.

"I like your guts, but a scrawny kid like you shouldn't use such words in front of people like me. I haven't seen you here before, and I doubt if the boss actually has business with the two of you. So better go home to your mommies before things get dirty," mocked the man.

"We don't have time for this," Kenshin said as he motioned to unsheathe his sword.

Instantaneously Soujiro stood inches beside the gatekeeper, his sword drawn and stained with blood. His swiftly executed attack left the bigger man lying motionless on the ground. 

"You seem to be quite edgy, Himura-san," Soujiro, who have kept quiet during the heated interaction and small argument, commented.

"Can't help it when I know Kaoru could be hurt by now," he answered as he proceeded and sliced the factory's door in two.

"What the?? Who the hell do these teenage punks think they are?" one of the surprised group of men gathered in the factory said. 

"Vladimir Markov," Kenshin growled. "Who among you is he?"

"Make those boys shut up," the man from behind said and prompted a hoard of men to attack the two unwelcome visitors.

The ordered men aimed their guns at both unwelcome visitors; however, their bullets were either deflected by their swords or were just easily dodged. The enflamed group then rushed at the two, choosing to fire at close range and to fight hand-to-hand as well. 

_'Shit. Where are they?' a man with bushy brown hair thought just before he felt a cold metal pass by his chest. This feeling was soon ended by death though, even before pain was felt.  Soujiro didn't even wait for the man to collapse and went on with his next opponent. This time, his opponent was shooting at him with both guns in his hands. With his super-fast speed, he reached the man in seconds and sliced him in two. He then felt a presence from behind him, so he sharply turned around while grabbing his gun from his inner pocket and fired his gun accurately through the man's heart. _

Kenshin was dealing with a number of fighters himself. The opponents chose to attack all at the same time, and rushed towards him in full speed. Kenshin started spinning around the group rendering them confused, and then delivered a backhanded swing at each of his opponent's neck. All men lie lifeless at the ground with blank expressions on their faces. Like his partner at the other side of the building, he continued on to another fight right after the finishing the previous one, this time shooting great distances effortlessly at opponents who was rushing towards him, each shot made not missing a beat.

Just minutes later, all that was left were bodies piled on the ground and splotches of blood occasionally dripping from the walls.

"We'll ask you again one more time, may we speak with Vladimir Markov-san?" Soujiro politely reiterated their earlier demand as he flicked the blood from his sword.

By now, only a handful of people were left standing at the back of the area, some were visibly shaking, the guns held tightly with both hands, while some were still in shock by the turn of events. Not long after, a stout, balding man in a gray business suit stepped forward and asked cautiously, "What do you want from me?"

"We just need to ask a few questions," Soujiro supplied.

"What kind of questions?" the man nervously answered as he loosened his tie. Beads of sweat began forming on his forehead.

"Do you make or distribute umbrellas used for assassinations or any other form of killing weapons?" Soujiro asked bluntly.

"Is this a police interrogation? 'Coz if it is, I would have to call my lawyer first!" the man shakily defended, mustering up the few ounces of courage he still possessed.

"Just answer the fucking question!" threatened Kenshin with his amber eyes glaring daggers at the man.

Markov was stupefied for a minute; he was now having a hard time preventing his knees from buckling as his upper body ironically refused to move at all due to intense fear.

"Yes. I do," he unwillingly confessed.

"Do you sell it to a lot of people?" interrogated the young officer.

"No, they're very hard to make, making them rare and extremely costly."

"Did you happen to sell one to the Takeda Enterprise recently?" asked Kenshin, his cold, hard eyes still locked on the man's.

"Umm…" the man started as his hands started to feel all sweaty. "Our transactions are exceedingly confidential." 

This response was greeted by Kenshin's glare and handgun pointed straight towards Markov's chest.

"Hold on a minute!" he panicked. "I don't think that Takeda bought anything recently. Ah, but wait, I think I recall one of my clients said that their latest work was being commissioned by the mentioned business."

"And their names? Names would be nice to hear," said Kenshin cynically.

"I don't know all their names, but I do know the name of the person who bought the item."

"Which is?" Kenshin said as he took a threatening step forward, the gun still aimed on target.

"McClay, Vi-Vincent McClay," stuttered the man.

**

"So Kenshin's suspicions are right. They really are foreigners," said Sano as he plopped himself on a chair.

The three students and the officers were all gathered in a private library. Misao and Kenshin were stationed at the computers, Tae with the microfilms, while Soujiro and Megumi tried their luck with the books. 

"Yes, but we don't know anything about these people except for a name. So better lift your lazy self from the couch and help us with the research!" exclaimed Misao as she threw a folder at Sano.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Some stuff I printed earlier. It looks like it may be useful, but I haven't had the chance to actually read the entire thing," she replied briefly as she was clicking away with the mouse. "Any luck Kenshin?" Misao asked as she glanced at the boy sitting beside her. 

"No," he answered grimly.

"Hmm…how's Aoshi-sama? Does anybody know?" Misao asked, initiating yet another conversation.

"He seems to be recovering in record speed. He should be released from the hospital anytime now," Megumi answered without looking up from the book she was reading.

"That's great!" she exclaimed and raised her hands above her head for emphasis.

"Where's Hiko-san and the captain by the way?" inquired Tae.

"They said they have some business to attend to," Kenshin answered.

"Whatever it was, I hope they are having more luck than we are," exasperated Misao. "We've been looking for this McClay for hours and have come up with a total of zero."

"Thank Kami-sama that we actually had this luck you mentioned," they heard someone say as the huge library doors swung open. Approaching them were the Mission's captain, Saito Hajime, the agent, Seijiro Hiko, and the recently recovered officer, Shinomori Aoshi. 

"Shinomori-san!" exclaimed Misao the moment she saw his figure. "How are you feeling? Are you allowed to walk already?" she asked worriedly.

"I'm doing fine Makimachi-san. Thank you," he said as he pulled out one of the chairs and sat.

"Really? I mean do you still have to stay at the hospital? Have you fully recovered?" she continued.

"Yes, the hospital released me already. I believe I'm in top condition now," the man reassured.

Kenshin then asked, after hearing Aoshi's condition, "What do you mean Shishou?"

The two older men ignored them. Instead Saito started using one of the computers, while Hiko turned on a switch, which lowered a white screen at the back section of the library.

"What are they doing?" whispered a confused Sano to the person sitting next to him.

"Don't know," answered Soujiro.

"Looks like they're going to have a presentation for us," joined Megumi.

"All right, boys and girls. I know you've been trying to find answers all day and I appreciate all your work; however we can't waste any more time. So sit back, relax and enjoy the show," Hiko said smugly as Saito started the presentation.

A huge map of Europe appeared on the screen with red dots occasionally marked at certain points. "I assume that all of you know that this is a map of Europe. This is where all of the previous activities of Takeda's hired group were reported. The red dots indicate that their Mission was successful while blue dots mean it was a failure." Saito started.

"But I can't see any blue dots," commented a perplexed Misao.

"Exactly," the agent answered seriously.

"They haven't failed even once," Kenshin concluded.

The captain replied, "Yes. Because of this, they are well respected and feared by corporations and individuals who know or have heard about them. Their reputation is well established in the Western Hemisphere. And so, listen up and remember the facts. These may help you when you actually have the chance to see them face-to-face."

The map faded from the screen and was replaced by a picture of a good-looking man with blue eyes and blond hair. "His name's Vincent McClay, 21 years of age, grew up in Germany, and is rumored to lead the group. His weapon is a main gauche, and he is said to be very skilled in using it."

"A main gauche?" repeated Tae.

The captain glanced at Aoshi, and almost instantly the young officer elaborated, "A main gauche is a European dagger developed during the 16th century. It is a double-edged, left-handed dagger with a sturdy crossbar to protect the hand. It is mainly used as a defensive weapon. Some main gauche developed had devices built into the blades to catch and break an opponent's blade. McClay uses one of these types, a German main gauche. His sword has two blades that spring away from the center blade at 30-degree angle upon depressing a lever in the guard. These pronged blades can catch and break a sword and cause great damage to the opponent himself."

"Whoa, sounds like a really cool weapon, I've never heard of that one before," admired Sano.

"As you'll see in the later slides, all of them use a weapon which was used in the past centuries. These weapons are not common in this day and age because of the innovation in technology. Plus, the characteristics of the said weapons do not suit our present times, as it did during its peak of use. Most are heavy swords that were especially designed to crush armor, since knights and men-at-arms were the ones who used them. It is a startling fact that this group chose to use these instead of guns," said Hiko. 

"Not like we are any different. Tae is the only one who prefers to use guns in our group. Everyone else's first weapon of choice is either blades or martial arts," Misao pointed out. 

"Yes, and as Hiko-san said that isn't very common nowadays. People rely on guns so much that they've ignored the past's way of offense," Soujiro replied.

"Enough chat, let's move on," the captain said impatiently.

"Hai, gomen," Soujiro apologized.

 "Next we have, Johann Schmidt, 19 years old, from Germany too. He uses a sword called the rapier, another ancient European sword that is almost exclusively used as a thrusting weapon. It is lightweight, maneuverable and has a very thin blade. This sword needs a wieldier that has both skill and finesse, in order to be effective in use. If not, the sword won't be good for anything, other than for display." 

"And I expect that this Schmidt both have that," spoke Kenshin.

"That goes without saying," replied Hiko.

Saito continued, "Then comes another Schmidt, Johann Schmidt's sister who goes by the name Marguerite, age: 15 and her area of expertise is close combat. She is rumored to use a tiger claw; an easily concealable metal bar with three to five curved blades, which is grasped firmly in the palm by slipping your smallest finger and forefinger through the rings."

"Fifteen? How long have they been accepting missions like these? From the number of those red spots you showed, it looked like it would be at least a couple of years. That would make the girl at the very least 13 when they first started," outburst Sano.

"Sadly, what you said is probably very close to the truth," concurred Megumi.

Saito again ignored the comments, and continued the last portion of the presentation, "Lastly, there's a person called Karl Remnick. Unfortunately we have not gathered any pictures of him. He does not join much of the field missions, but he does participate by creating the plan and doing their research. Sources describe him to have light brown hair with a few highlights, dark green eyes, average in built, and maybe a little over 20 years old. There are hearsays that he may be English. His weapon may be a Long Sword. Again, this is not confirmed because of the relatively little information we have on this guy. Anyway, in case he does use a Long Sword, here is a brief idea on what the said weapon is. A Long Sword is a dual-edged European weapon. The long sword's lighter weight makes it easier to handle than the katana, though this comes at the cost of some power. Still, its ability to execute various consecutive attacks makes it a valuable addition to any arsenal."

"It needs great strength to swing most of those huge old swords, doesn't it?" Megumi asked.

"Yes," Aoshi answered. 

"Then why did they choose those? Why not pick a lighter weapon and learn a few hand-to-hand combat techniques?" a curious Misao asked.

"Yeah, they would be decreasing their speed big time because of those huge swords," agreed Sano.

"Sacrificing speed may be worth it, if it greatly increases the damaging effect of one blow," joined Soujiro.

"All your speculations may be right. Remember as we've seen earlier, they are professional hit men and woman who have never failed once, even if their targets have bodyguards who are trained and armed as well. Also, do not limit their abilities with the report we've just presented since it is very possible that they use other weapons too, or may know hand to hand combat, and use guns like you guys," Hiko warned.

"They are young," Misao commented.  
 

"You, of all people, should be the last one to be surprised," Megumi answered.

"Well, yeah, but still…" she replied.

"There's no time to ponder about such things. We need to rescue Kaoru, and the best way to ensure our success is to know the enemy's weakness and develop a solid plan to defeat them," said Kenshin firmly.

Suddenly, the doors of the library sprung open and a panting man stood at the door's frame, trying desperately to catch his breath.

"What's wrong Chou?" asked the alarmed captain.

"We…" Chou started and then went back to inhaling huge breaths. After a few seconds, the officer managed to release, "We've got it sir." 

"Got what?" asked the captain impatiently.

"We found Kaoru's exact location captain!"

A/n:  This chapter was hard to write because of the research I had to do on the weapons. I want them to use swords of some sort, but then most European swords were designed to destroy armor rather than to actually cut, so it was very hard to find ones that were practical to use in modern times. 

Again, I don't have anything against German or English people at all!  Also, I have nothing against Bulgarians too, they just happen to be the one to use the umbrella in the case I read. For a full explanation, please read the author's note in the previous chapter.

Weapons used by both groups will be a mixture of non-existent (from video games or from the RK series itself) and real Japanese and European weapons. I'll take this chance to warn you that I may actually change some stuff about the real ones. So, some would just be based from real medieval weapons, but not exactly the same. This is because I am clueless on what techniques those weapons really use, so I'll try and make up some along the way.  I decided to let Megumi have a weapon of her own other than a gun, coz I think she's very capable of doing that. 

There will be some changes with the weapons that some of the RK characters use (ones not mentioned below still have the same old ones)…

Kenshin – katana

Megumi – naginata (a stabbing and slashing weapon that makes devastating sweep attacks in all directions; it's like a spear with a curved crossed blade at the end)

Tae – hand gun

Sources: 

http://www.todsstuff.co.uk/html/damascus.htm

http://www.angelfire.com/on/kellindil/weapons.html

http://www.squaresoft.com/web/games/bb2/weapons.html

This was also pretty tough because of so many people present in the library scene; it was hard to make them all involved at the same time. So, I apologize if some characters only spoke a few lines.

Reviews are greatly appreciated! Thank you for reading! Sorry again for the long wait.


	16. Disclosure Part A

You might want to read or skim through the precious chapter(s) to remember the plot. I'm really sorry for the late update!!!!!  

A row of (*) means a change of scene/characters involved. There'll be a lot of those in this chapter, since there's so many people involved at the same time but at different places.

Enjoy!! 

******************************************************************************************

How long have I been here? A couple of days? Maybe a week? I don't know. I've been stuck in this room with no way to tell time. There are no clocks in this room, and the window is all blocked. I wonder if it's actually morning, or is it really time for me to go to sleep.

*Sigh* It's not that I'm dying of boredom. Marguerite is actually fun to have around. A Few more days here and I'll be a Final Fantasy master. I wasn't even interested in that game before I arrived here. Marguerite and I have spent tons of hours playing that game; I guess she likes it a lot. Not only have we played, but we've talked too. She's really a nice girl. Sweet, cheerful and definitely not a person you would expect to be a trained killer. Marguerite's brother, Johann, even joined us in playing in some occasions, another person who you wouldn't expect to be in that kind of work. He's a lot less hyper than Marguerite but he's still a brother, so it's funny to watch those two's antics. 

Oh and let's not forget Vincent. When I first met him, I thought he would never speak with me. He's pretty intimidating. I think the word intense suits him just fine. He doesn't look like the friendly, talkative one, but lately he just appears at the door and talks to me for a while. At first, I was pretty scared whenever he appears because it feels like he would be calling me to meet Kanryu or discuss the Project Messiah. But he has never brought any of those topics up. It seems like he just wanted to speak with me…ah…correction: more of piss me off. I don't know how he comes up with his little comments, but it certainly looks like he is having the time of his life whenever he teases me. 

And yeah, there's Karl too. He's the latest acquaintance of mine, during my lovely stay here. Let's not forget to take note of the sarcasm here. He reminds me of Sou-chan actually, because he looks smart, nice, and friendly, but I am pretty sure that he's one of the deadliest in their team. Can't trust the quiet ones, can't we? 

Kanryu has never talked to me ever since the first day I was here. Not that I want to talk to him or anything but, does that mean he's planning something? How about my friends? Aoshi? I hope he's doing fine. Hmm…Kenshin, wonder what he's doing right now. He's probably freaking worried about me, not just him but also everyone.

I hate this. I don't want people around me to feel like that. Was it wrong to involve them in this mess? Maybe if they haven't known then it would be 3 less people worrying and risking their necks, all for one person. Oh and if you include Hiko-san, better make that four.  Maybe I could hit my head and just forget about the password and things may turn out a little better.

I need some fresh air.

"Mou!!!!! Talking to the pillow is not healthy Kaoru!!!!" I exclaimed with great frustration while I smothered myself with the said pillow. 

"It certainly isn't," I heard someone say. 

**Other Side of the Moon**

Disclosure Chapter 15 

_Part A_

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

_"Then again, maybe the only real love is between a boy and his dog."_

_--Charlie Brown _

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

"Ehh????????? VINCENT!!!! How long have you been standing there?" Kaoru asked in shock, her face turning into a few shades of red with the thought that he might have heard everything she said.

"Not too long ago," Vincent replied.

"Well, you should have said something! Besides, even if this isn't my house, you should at least knock before coming in!" Kaoru said in a fluster.

"I did knock—twice even—but I think the little tomboy was too busy daydreaming," he replied playfully. 

Steam was starting to come out of Kaoru's ears the moment he mentioned the later part of the sentence. Forcefully, she cracked a smile and asked sarcastically, "Excuse me, but did you just call me a tomboy?" 

"Eh? Did I say that? Don't think so," he said innocently, while pretending to be thoroughly involved with a piece of lint on his sleeve. Not affected by Kaoru's rising temperature at all, he continued and flashed a smile, "I would never call a sweet, cute girl a tomboy." 

_'Eh? What is this guy trying to say? Didn't he call me a tomboy, so that means I'm not sweet nor cute! _"Mou!" _'This guy is obnoxious!'_ "Forget about it. What are you doing here anyway?" she snapped.

His attitude went back to its usually serious state before he replied, "I think it's time for you to come out of this room." 

Kaoru tilted her head in confusion. Seeing this, Vincent went on.

"Takeda would like to talk to you. I think the preparations are ready," he finished.

"Is that so?" she managed to release calmly although her heart was beginning to race like a rabbit's. Her eyes slowly drifted downwards worry, fear and anxiety consuming her mind all at once.

"Don't worry too much about it. You have good friends, don't you? I'm sure they'll try and help you," he said.

She gave a small nod, "I'm not that worried about myself. I'm worried about the possible consequences of Kanryu's actions. Ey Vincent, if my friends do come, you guys would have to fight them, ne?"

"Aa...that's what we're here for," he confirmed.

"I see. Some things can't be helped," she said as she motioned to stand up from the bed and walk towards the door.

"Just don't die ok?" she said before completely stepping out of the room.

His eyes failed to conceal his surprise brought about by her previous words_. 'Baka' he thought involuntarily. He turned his back on her and spoke distantly, "Why are you telling me that? If the orders were to kill them, I would not have any second thoughts."  _

She shook her head slowly, besides the fact that he wouldn't see her action anyway. She spoke softly, "I just don't want any of my friends to die. If I was with them, I would have said the same thing."

"Friend?" he was again taken by surprise, and froze on his spot. He turned his head towards her direction lightly then asked in almost a whisper, "Am I your friend, then, Kaoru?"

"Baka. Of course," she said just as softly before proceeding towards the hallway.

"Sou desu ka," he replied as he led her to Kanryu's office.

*****

Kaoru's location was confirmed to be one of Kanryu's huge manors. This one was located in the heart of the industrial park. It really didn't look like a house on the outside, more like a business office. Kaoru is supposedly on one of the upper floors. The exact location has not been pin pointed yet, that's why creating a blue print of the manor is part of the mission today. It might sound a little crazy, careless and risky to sneak in the manor to draw the blueprint and rescue the girl simultaneously, but there isn't much time left. If everything would go on as planned, it would be fairly easy. 

"One last recap. You will break up into two groups. One group will consist of Megumi and Misao, while the other one would be comprised of Aoshi, Sano, Kenshin and Soujiro. The women are assigned to secure control over all the exits in the building and to send the blueprint of the manor to the command center. Having the blueprint in hand would be of great advantage later. The four men are then assigned to take care of Kanryu and the hired group, and of course, take Kaoru home," the captain repeated for the nth time.

"Is everything clear?" he asked.

"Hai," answered everyone. 

"Well, it better be. In case memory fails you or klutziness acts up, just contact us through Tae."

"Hai. Don't worry! We've got it covered," Sano said confidently.

"Hmm…don't get too cocky, ahou. Never underestimate your opponent. Well then, what are you waiting for? Go on," Saito said.

"Hai. See you later captain," Aoshi said as he led the group to the location.

***

Misao threw another of her kunai at a surveillance camera and right on cue, Megumi swung her naginata towards the guard standing adjacent to her. 

"Great job Megumi! Things are going pretty well for us," Misao said cheerfully as she looked around the area.

"Mmm…these guards aren't very tough at all," she said half-heartedly as she busily typed away on her laptop.

"Wonder how the others are doing?" Misao asked.

"I'm sure they're doing just fine. In the meantime let's do our best," she answered as she clicked her laptop shut. "Our job's done in this area. I've finished drawing the layout and I've already sent it to Tae. Let's go to the next one," Megumi said. 

"Hai. Let's go," Misao complied.

***

"Ah, nice to see you again Kamiya-san." he greeted. "I hope you are comfortable during your stay here."

Kaoru remained quiet and chose to stare directly at Kanryu's eyes instead.

Kanryu walked around the room, grabbed a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and slowly lighted it. "My, my, isn't the air in this room a little heavy?"

"I did not expect that you would devote a whole day for me," Kaoru commented disdainfully.  

"Why not? Such a special girl like you is worth my time, especially since you're the key to my bright future," he answered smoothly while leisurely breathing out smoke towards her direction.

Kaoru indiscreetly showed her disgust for smoking and said, "I did not come out of your little prison to inhale second hand smoke."

"Ooh...in such a hurry, little girl. It's not like you can go anywhere afterwards. But don't worry; your highness's evening won't be exclusively spent on throwing sarcastic remarks. In fact I'm going to tell you the reason for your long wait."

**

"I'm going to check around," Vincent said quietly to his teammate, careful not to disturb his client's conversation with Kaoru. 

"Aa, my instincts are screaming at me too. I'll come with you," Johann replied as he followed the blond boy towards the exit.

"Where are you guys going?" Marguerite inquired.

"Just going to walk around," Vincent said then continued before she could reply, "You stay here with Karl."

"Vin—" Marguerite's whining was seized by Karl's hand. 

"They'll be back soon. If they don't, then that's when we follow, alright?" Karl said with an almost _too bright smile_ on his face.

"Hmm…ok," Marguerite replied submissively.

*****

"I've already talked to the government and have ensured them that this wasn't a lunatic's joke, or a well-devised prank. I've also gained partnerships with people who have equally ingenious minds and wealth like mine. They've agreed to back me up in my endeavor."

"You mean rich, corrupted people like yourself have agreed to work with you to satisfy their lust for wealth and power," Kaoru spat.

"Ah, you can put it that way if you want," he said unaffected by the girl's straightforward comment. "And also, you should know that the media has already been informed of the issue at hand. All that's left to do is to actually show them that I physically posses the password, ne?"

Kaoru remained quiet with hard, intense eyes focused on the talking man.

"Your father actually gave my researchers a hard time, you know? A password that is not a number nor a word, not a key nor a microchip," he continued blabbering. "Then what else could it be? A voice activated mechanism? Nee, Kaoru-chan, what could it be?" he asked almost melodiously. 

"I am and will never be _Kaoru-chan _to you," she said piercingly. "I'm sure you have brilliant researchers to figure the password out for you. You won't need my help then."

"Ah, my researchers are brilliant indeed," the man answered menacingly. He then tilted his head to one side, and paused before continuing, "Oh, did I misled you to believe that the password is still unknown?" his question dripping with malice.

_'No,' _she thought. "You're bluffing."

"Hmm? I'm sure you are hoping I am bluffing, but what if I'm not? What would you do then _Ka-o-ru-cha-n?" he said, pronouncing every syllable of her name ever so slowly. _

She tried to regain her composure and tried to reply smartly, "If you already know the password, then what am I here for then?"

"We both know the answer to that question. Now, now, let's go play chess, ne?" Kanryu invited cynically.

****

Marguerite was getting impatient. It's been almost 20 minutes since his brother and team leader stepped out.

"Nee, Karl, can we go out now? They're not back yet," Marguerite nagged.

"It hasn't been that long," he replied patiently his attention never leaving Kaoru and Kanryu.

"But…" she insisted and incessantly tugged at the older boy's sleeve.

He sighed. "Alright, let's go, but we'll just look for them then come back right away, understand?" Karl said sternly.

"Yes, I promise," she said happily while she tugged Karl's arm behind her.

***

"You must be Kaoru-san's rescuers," Johann assumed unceremoniously.

"Where is she?" Kenshin demanded, his eyes flickering an amber color.

_'Hmm…a little too upset for a bodyguard. Kaoru's boyfriend?' _"She's currently busy right now," Vincent replied.

"We're sorry to interrupt, but I think it is time we took Kaoru home," Soujiro said.

"We can't allow that. That will mean Marguerite will bother us all day," Johann replied.

"I heard that," they heard a girl say.

Two figures were seen slowly approaching the group. 

"Well, it's the truth, isn't it? It's better for all of us if you bother Kaoru all day instead," Johann said to Marguerite.

"Don't speak of her too familiarly," Aoshi noted. 

"Ah, please excuse them. I do not believe that we've been properly introduced yet. My name's Karl Remnick." 

"Che… We are not here to attend a freaking soiree. Cut the crap and get out of the way. We came here for Kaoru, not to meet somebody's acquaintance," Sano outburst and motioned to walk past them.

"I wouldn't dare make another step if I were you," Johann said.

"As if I care," Sano ignored him and deliberately made a huge step forward. 

"Sano!" Kenshin exclaimed. 

Instantly, Sano was leaning against the wall, his left side bleeding badly. The second after Sano made the intentional stride; Johann unexpectedly charged at him at astonishing speed and thrust a sword through Sano's left shoulder.

_'Damn. These people swing their sword like it was just writing. No holding back at all,' _Sano thought.

"Maybe you should try to consider our warning before you act," Johann said a little too friendly while re-sheathing his sword. 

"Shut up!" Sano shouted as he charged towards Johann.

"Sano, wait!" tried Kenshin, but his attempt was interrupted by Vincent's incoming attack.

"Better worry about your own well-being first," Vincent said coolly as Kenshin blocked his attack.

"Hello there! Do you remember me? How are you feeling? Does your leg still hurt?" Marguerite asked Aoshi.

"I'm doing better now," he replied coldly.

"That's good to hear! That means I don't have to hold back," she said as she moved to form an offensive stance, and then beamed, "Don't want to be called a bully for fighting an injured man, ne?" 

"I guess that leaves us then. I think I would enjoy this," Karl said.

"Good luck Remnick-san, but I guarantee, I won't lose," Soujiro replied, noticeably changing tones with his last words.

"Ah, of course, let's go!"  

***

"Chess? I have no idea what you're talking about," Kaoru lied rather poorly.

"Eh? Too bad, you would still have to play. Maybe once you see the screen, memory will work again for you, right?" Kanryu asked the question almost rhetorically. He huffed then commanded one of his men, "Let's begin the game."

"Yes sir!" replied the man amenably.

**

"You're stiff. It's not like you to worry like this and actually have a hard time covering it up," he said to the man standing on his right.

The tall, lean man on the right, reached for a pack of cigarettes in his pocket, grabbed a stick and lighted it before answering, "Am I giving away that much? I must be getting old."

"Hn, I think it's because of the girl," the brawny man answered confidently with a smug smirk on his face.

"Maybe," he answered vaguely, his lips slightly curling up to form a small smile. 

"Are you thinking the boys and girls won't make it in time?" 

"They'll make it on time. Even if they don't I'm sure those kids will cook something up to save the day. For some reason I think they were born to be superheroes," he joked half-heartedly while puffing out smoke. 

"Ah, how about the girl? Do you think she can wait for her knights and ladies?"

"I'm sure she'll make the best decision there is."

"The password," Hiko started, earning not an angle of movement from the captain's gaze, "What is it?"

"Hn, the agent's curious, huh?" he asked mockingly.

"Why'd they have to kidnap the girl?" Hiko continued to ask, choosing to ignore the other man's remark.

"Because the password is pure memory, something not tangible," Saito explained casually.

The agent's eyebrows raised high, proving his huge interest on the topic. The open confession of the captain also earned his subordinate's attention. Tae, who was at her stations, waiting for the girls' files turned slightly towards the men's direction to listen better.

Saito continued, "The password is a game, a chess game."

"Chess game?" repeated Tae, not being able to restrain herself.

"A chess game, where in if you should win, Messiah will be activated."

"That's too easy. Besides, you still wouldn't need the girl for that, any chess master would do. What's the catch?" Hiko asked.

"The player should win using the correct moves for all the chess pieces," Saito answered.

"A recreated game," Tae spoke.

"Yes, a recreated game, and the only person who's seen the game is Kaoru."

Author' Notes:

I have spent a lot of time thinking about what the password actually is. I wanted it to be something different so there would actually be enough reason to have Kaoru kidnapped. I've debated whether it'll be science-fiction-like such as Kaoru being the password herself, but then that would just be too complicated to write. Then I came up with using her DNA, but then that would even be easier to get coz with today's technology, DNA's pretty easy to get, just a strand of hair would be enough. Also, DNA only has 4 different letters to choose from, and I'm pretty sure the password won't be as long as an actual DNA, so the probability of cracking the code would be pretty high. That would certainly not justify that kidnapping business. And so…I came up with the "chess thing." What do you think about this idea? Is it too weird?

Ah this was supposedly longer. Actually this chapter posted here, has been in my hard drive since October, but it was only 7 pages then, so I wanted to make it longer. Unfortunately, I haven't done that till now!! The outlines are done, but it's hard to actually write it. So I just added a page and decided to post it as part A. Hmm..hopefully the later part would come out faster than this one.

Special thanks to **Tan Kimiko** for proofreading this chapter.

I'll take this opportunity to thank the people who reviewed last chapter, just because it's been so long since I've updated and, I think all of you deserve the credit!

**Ayce Shade**: I'll ask for your help with the fighting scenes, if you're still available. Please leave me a note.

Thank you so much to: **Madam Spooky, Hanna-chan, Luli451, friends4eva08, princezz kaoru, Gypsy-chan, cherrybubbles, omochi, Willow, me me me and only me, C-chan, Chibigreen Tanuki, Lady Belegwen Lightningblade, Vesca, Joey, Susan, Hana Himura, kawaii sakura-chan, tenshineko**, and **Crystal.**

A**h, and most important of all, this chapter is dedicated to Gypsy-chan! She's the one responsible for actually making me post part A of this chapter. Why? 'Coz she nominated this fic for The Nikki Diary Awards. Waaa!! I was so surprised when I opened my inbox and found a nomination notification. Wee…Thank you so much Gypsy-chan!!!! **


	17. Disclosure

OK people, here's the quick recap, well not really a recap just old info that you probably forgot already but would be crucial to understand this chapter fully. These were in the prologue and Chapter 14, so you guys probably forgot it already due to the tortoise-speed updates ^.^ My fault!

The laboratory where Project Messiah was kept exploded 8 years ago. Karl Remnick didn't have much explanation, almost all info on him were speculations. Vincent's weapon, main gauche, is a left-handed dagger. 

For a detailed info on the weapons please skim through the last part of Chapter 14.

Waa..semi-spoilers.. More like hints I guess. So go on and read, for it to make more sense. Enjoy!

There'll be a few curses thrown in here, so yeah, just to let you know.

**Other Side of the Moon**

Disclosure Chapter 15 

_Part B_

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

_"The scars you cannot see are the ones that never heal."_

_--unknown _

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

Kenshin charged at Vincent in full speed, his katana aiming straight towards Vincent's upper chest. Vincent blocked it perfectly with his main gauche, and managed to push Kenshin's sword to the left while trying to deliver a punch at Kenshin's torso using his free hand. Kenshin avoided the attack just in time by jumping a couple of feet away from the foreigner.

"Not bad," praised Vincent as he lowered his weapon to his side.

"You're not bad yourself," replied Kenshin, moving to a defensive stance.

This time it was Vincent who attacked. He used his speed to try and hit Kenshin from behind, however Kenshin's speed was equal if not faster; Vincent's attempt was in vain.

"I have no time for this, as you already know. I didn't come here to spar with you. Let's get this over with," demanded Kenshin.

"Fine with me," complied Vincent.

Both men charged at each other at top speed, Kenshin's right hand was ready to draw the sword at the precise moment, while Vincent held his sword steadily at his side. Kenshin used his advantage over their weapons' difference in weight, to deliver a swifter attack on his opponent. Kenshin had finished giving Vincent a large deep cut on his left arm, even before the young foreigner was able to raise his dagger. 

However, Vincent perfectly aware of the disadvantages of carrying a heavier weapon, took advantage of their close distance to deliver a punch right on Kenshin's ribs with the hand carrying the sword. The presence of the crossbar made the punch very, very powerful.

Kenshin instantly fell on his knees as some of his ribs were broken in two, and panted heavily for air.

. : : + : : .

Aoshi was avoiding Marguerite's consecutive attacks. Her eyes were playful yet glinting, indicating that she was having fun. He would avoid the attack by jumping to the opposite side of her slash, only to be followed by another slash in a few seconds' time.

_'Her attacks are swift and neat however, it needs the opponent to be within her arms' reach. I can use this to my advantage,'_ Aoshi thought before dodging yet another slashing attack, and then ran towards the opposite end of the room giving him time to unsheathe his twin kodachis.

He suddenly changed directions, and quickly headed back to Marguerite's direction, who was anticipating his approach. Aoshi again changed directions and decided to run around Marguerite causing the girl to lose her concentration momentarily, and before she knew it, one of Aoshi's sword was flying northeast of her position with great speed.  

. : : + : : . 

"Every area has been secured captain. All the necessary blueprints have been sent too," reported Megumi.

"Good job. Now get out of there and come back here," he ordered.

"But captain, Kaoru's still here!" Misao argued. "Wouldn't helping the guys, make Kaoru's rescue more efficient?"

"We've been through with this Makimachi. That's the other team's job. Now you two come back here, and help them from here, understand?" ordered Saito. 

"Hai," Megumi answered for the both of them.

. : : + : : . 

Kaoru was pushed towards a chair, and was forced to sit on it. She resisted quite a lot, but to no avail, her struggles were deemed useless. Though her mind was still adamant about the whole thing, she could not deny that she was physically helpless at the moment. After a number of attempts, she stopped struggling and finally settled stiffly on the chair and spoke, "Fine, I won't try to get up from this chair anymore, but that doesn't mean that I'll actually play the game."

"Should I say that I was expecting this?" Kanryu answered with dried up patience. "I've made the proper preparations Kamiya," he said hard. "Look at the screen at the upper left hand side of the room."

For a while, Kaoru refused to follow the man's order, but curiosity was eating her. Hesitantly, she turned her head towards the mentioned screen. 

She took a huge intake of breath.

. : : + : : . 

Soujiro was breathing hard. Karl Remnick has proved to be a very tough opponent, and no matter what tactic he came up with, Remnick seemed to be one step ahead of him. He was still catching his breath and thinking of another possible attack when his thoughts were interrupted by Remnick himself.

"It looks like you are getting tired Seta-san," he started.

Soujiro remained quiet and waited patiently to see where this is heading to.

"I am getting a little bored myself, why don't we end this match now?" he explained in a rather lazy way.

"I would be glad too," Soujiro replied, determined not to let the other man taunt him any longer.

With all his remaining energy, Soujiro managed to run towards Remnick in his usual top speed, but to his surprise, his attack was blocked by a strong punch to his chest. The impact threw Soujiro a few meters away, allowing him to crash on the floor, and finally against the wall. Soujiro was starting to cough blood, and was struggling to stand up again, with one hand holding against the wall behind him for support, while his other hand was held tightly against his torso, trying to control the pain brought about by a few broken ribs.

Remnick slowly approached Soujiro, not saying a word, just steadily heading towards his direction. Soujiro, decently aware of the situation, tried to summon a defensive stance, almost pitifully. Movements unfaltering, Remnick continued his approach until he was a couple of feet from Soujiro. He forcefully grabbed the arm supporting Soujiro's weight and twisted it painfully behind the young officer. Soujiro winced in pain but refused to surrender in defeat. In defense, he raised his free hand in an attempt to push the foreign opponent away. Remnick caught Soujiro's fist perfectly and twisted this arm far enough for the shoulder to be broken.

Soujiro screamed in pain.

"Pathetic," Remnick spatted before grabbing Soujiro's head and banging it repeatedly, against the wall Soujiro used to support his weight, until he lost all consciousness. 

. : : + : : . 

Sano aggressively attacked Johann, who blocked the forceful attack like it was nothing. Johann gracefully jumped a few steps back after stopping Sano's attempt. 

_'Annoying bastard,'_ thought Sano, before spitting at the side and charging towards Johann once more. 

It seemed like Johann could read Sano's attack beforehand, for as previously, he simply moved to the side, allowing Sano to completely deliver his attack on pure air.

"Annoying," breathed Sano. 

"I did not mean to annoy anyone. I was simply evading a perfectly predictable attack," taunted the young man.

"Shut up!" yelled Sano as he charged once more. 

_'What the?'_ thought a pissed off, surprised Sano. 

Johann did not avoid the attack this time; suspiciously, he simply stood there right on Sano's aim. 

_'Whatever man, I don't know what you're trying to pull here, but I'll show you,'_ he thought cockily just before he saw Johann leap towards him and soon felt a cold metal blade pressed against his abdomen.

Johann smirked and leered at Sano while he pushed his rapier even deeper, until it was still sticking out Sano's back, "I'm sure this only resolved your thought of me being an annoying bastard," he taunted softly at Sano's right ear, before pulling out his sword.

"Sure does," replied Sano while attempting to bring a smirk to his lips. He summoned all his might to ignore the pain caused by the serious injury, grabbed Johann's hand, and prevented him from retrieving his sword from his torso while simultaneously delivering a strong uppercut to the face right in front of him. 

The sudden impact threw Johann against the wall, and gave Sano enough time to compose himself. He swiftly removed the blade from his body and threw it to the side. He tried to stand upright and attempted to clear his rapidly diminishing vision due to the loss of blood. _'This doesn't look good,' he thought as the images continue to look blurry._

_'That was quite a punch,'_ thought Johann as his hand reached for his jaw, and rubbed the sore, or probably broken section. 

. : : + : : . 

"Ah, now it seems I have gained your full attention, and perhaps cooperation," he spoke. 

"You wouldn't dare," she replied furiously.

"Are you challenging my capabilities, shall I try and prove it then to your highness?" he mocked once more.

"You monster! How could you involve them to this? They have nothing to do with it!" she exploded. 

"Eh? Don't they? I think they are the ones who are most affected, ne?" 

Kaoru looked up at the screen again, eyes softening at the sight of the little kindergartners. 

"Where are they?" she asked.

"Of course, in school. Little kids, should not skip school don't you think? Of course my men are guarding them quite well, in case something unexpected happens to my _plan_."

"And what would you do if something unexpected happens with this _plan?" she asked spitefully. _

"Of course, the little brats have to take the blow, just because another brat refused to cooperate."

Kaoru remained silent for a while and pondered. _'If I keep my current stand, he'll hurt those kids, but if I cooperate then he'll have absolute control over everyone. It will surely affect more people than these kids. But am I willing to sacrifice a dozen kids' lives for the world? It surely does not sound much of a competition when you think of the possible massive consequence if he sets off Messiah. But still agreeing would mean the salvation of these kids.'_

"Ayaaa.. the little princess is playing all noble. Let me guess…" Kanryu offered before pausing for effect.

"You're debating whether the action of saving those kids would be justified granting that it would jeopardize the remaining population," explained Kanryu in her behalf.

Kaoru merely sneered at him, trying to deny his allegations.

"I have to commend my top advisor for predicting this. Ah--- such innocent minds---

 think so differently from mine," he said while walking around. "Of course we were ready for this too!" he added almost too cheerfully. 

. : : + : : . 

Marguerite with her quick reflexes, used her sharp tiger claws to defend herself and sent the sword flying to the other end of the room. 

"Damn it!" she screamed once she realized that she had allowed her sight to be taken off of her opponent. That was when she felt a deep pang on her left side. Aoshi had charged towards Marguerite a second after he threw his sword from above. Aoshi delivered another blow on Marguerite, right after the first one. His high kick sent Marguerite flying to the other end of the hallway, the impact causing the wound on Marguerite's side to cover the wall with blood.

"Marguerite!" Johann yelled, awarely allowing his opponent to take advantage of the scene. 

"You're opponent is me, idiot," reminded Sano, who has now successfully regained his footing.

Marguerite was still slumped on the floor, breathing heavily, barely moving, with a huge puddle of blood around her. "It hurts Johann," she spoke softly.

"Looks like you have this match Sagara," said Johann, not bearing to see his sister in such condition anymore. He rushed to her aid and withdrew from his fight.

. : : + : : . 

The two men were panting hard. Vincent has a large, deep cut on his left arm, and losing a lot of blood. Kenshin was not doing a whole lot better either. He has a couple of broken bones brought about by Vincent's powerful punch. Once again, both of them charged at the same time. Kenshin had his sword drawn ready to slash. He jumped above Vincent and was ready to deliver an attack, when he saw Vincent's attempt to block his attack. Kenshin's sword met Vincent's dagger. The clashing metal, making screeching sounds, refused to pull from each other, and when it seemed that the katana was overpowering the other, two blades sprung away from the dagger's center blade. 

_'Shit, forgot about this,'_ cursed Kenshin. 

Before Kenshin had the chance to pull his sword away, Vincent quickly twisted his hold on dagger and broke Kenshin's katana in half. The two jumped away from each other again and tried to catch their breath. 

"Better surrender now, you can't do anything with a broken sword," said Vincent.

"Says who?" replied Kenshin as he charged at Vincent once more, with his broken sword in hand.

_'What's this guy up to?'_ thought Vincent. 

He raised his dagger in front of him in defense as he waited for Kenshin's attack, but a surprise hit him when he saw Kenshin exchange his hold of his sword to his left hand rather than his right, and used his sword's sheath against his weapon. Kenshin managed to push back Vincent's dagger  to one side with the sheathe on his right hand, while using the broken sword on his left hand, to stab Vincent's wide open right side.

The fight was finally over.

. : : + : : .

"It's about time, man! Kaoru's probably losing patience waiting right now," joked Sano, while still clutching at his wound.

"Are you both alright?" asked Aoshi casually while giving Tae the signal to give them the directions.

"Yeah, we'll live," answered Sano for the both of them.

Kenshin was glancing back and forth before finally asking, "Where's Soujiro?"

"I don't know, but the orders are to go to Kaoru's location immediately, that is our top priority," relayed the officer. "Come on, this way," Aoshi lead the two hesitant teenagers.

. : : + : : . 

"How is Marguerite doing?" asked Vincent.

"She's doing better now I think," Johann replied as he finished bandaging Marguerite's wounds.

 "I'm ok, sorry for making you withdraw," apologized the little girl. 

"Forget about it," her brother answered dearly.

"Where's Karl, anyway?" Marguerite asked as she scanned the place.

"I think, he's doing something we are not aware about," her brother provided, as he finished wrapping his own wounds.

"It seems like we were left here to do nothing," she pouted, after throwing Johann a questioning look.

"Do you want to look for Kaoru's friend?" Vincent asked casually as he stared out the window.  

. : : + : : . 

"Ah Remnick, you're back. I assume everything is in place?" Kanryu greeted.

"Of course," Karl answered politely.

"Nothing less should be suspected with the genius strategist of this century huh?" teased Kanryu. "It wasn't a mistake to make you the head of this project. After all, you're the one with first hand experience with the Project Messiah," added Kanryu.

"First-hand experience?" mimicked Kaoru.

"Ah, so Remnick hasn't told you yet? He was there when the research lab burned to smithereens. 

Guess who caused it in the first place?" answered Kanryu.

"What are you saying?? That's impossible, Karl would have been just a boy then!" outburst Kaoru.

"And your point Kamiya-san?" questioned Karl cynically.

"Enough with this talk. Kamiya-san, would you like to look at the screen at your right?" 

With not much choice, Kaoru obeyed, turning her head slowly, only to curse her luck once more. 

"Soujiro," she stifled.

"So how about an answer now Kamiya-san?"

_'Someone please do something. Please don't make this nightmare come true.'_

Kaoru nodded regrettably. 

Author's notes:

The fighting scenes were hard too. This was my first time to write an action-filled chapter. Plus since there's a bunch of medieval weapons here, I had to use a ton of imagination to see them in action . Sometimes not just imagination, you should have seen me fight with imaginary opponents using imaginary weapons just to come up with how Kenshin will block or something like that o.O 

More would be explained in the following chapters. OK just to let you know, there's probably just a couple of chapters left.

Oh and, did you know that this fic won in the Nikki Awards? Errrrmm..actually I think it's not really valid since there were such a small number of people who voted in the category this was nominated in. Well, that's just what I think, so what do you think? Should I be happy and celebrate coz I actually won?? Hehe. Hmm… now that I think about it, I was extremely happy just by the fact that someone actually nominated this fic, so I guess it doesn't really matter. Thanks to those handful who voted! Anyways, the award sites are good places to hunt for the best RK fanfics written last year, and also reader participation is important, since hello…it is a reader's choice award. So go check them out. 

Hmm..lastly, can someone suggest a good host? Not too expensive and reliable, but with a good amount of bandwidth? Thanks.

Did somebody actually read all that a/n?? ^^;; 

Yipeey..reviews make me naturally high..so come on…come on…click that button!


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